Hey everyone! I know I haven't updated in a while. I was trying to finish my other story Lucky Ones so now that it's finished, I can fully focus on this story. I hope this chapter doesn't seem like a filler because it's really descriptive. I hope you like it anyways. Enjoy!


Pepper and Tony stared at Natasha in complete shock after her confession that she was going to get Clint herself. Both Pepper and Tony didn't quite understand what Clint and Natasha's relationship status was, but they did know that they were partners who had each other's backs. But the problem was, if the mission was supposed to be easy but Clint ended up compromised, there was no way it would be a cake walk for Natasha. She couldn't go in alone and she couldn't go in without some form of communication in case something went wrong with her too.

"Look, Romanoff, we all want Clint back but you can't just go in there without a plan," Tony said when he finally managed to compose himself.

"I have a plan," Natasha said bluntly. "Go to Rome. Get Clint. Kill those fuckers who compromised him. And maybe don't die in the process."

"Well, that's one hell of a plan," Tony said sarcastically.

"He's my partner," Natasha spat. "We promised each other years ago that we would have each other's backs no matter what. I'm not going to break that promise now."

"Yes, but Natasha, you can't go in without backup," Pepper said, finally finding her voice. "What if something were to happen to you? What if you get injured or you start knocking on Death's door?"

"That's a risk I'm willing to take," Natasha deadpanned. "That's the whole point."

Tony and Pepper stared at Natasha in disbelief. Tony shook his head before getting up from the couch and disappearing from the room. Moments later, he returned with his laptop in his hands. Tony set the laptop on the coffee table and took a seat on the couch while he waited for the laptop to boot up. When his laptop was finally ready, he began to tediously type away as he hacked into SHIELD's database to cancel the rescue mission for Clint.

Natasha watched Tony work for a couple more minutes before making her way towards the elevator to go back down to her apartment. The moment Tony cancelled everything, Natasha had to get to the airport and get on the first flight to Rome. She needed to get as far away from SHIELD as possible.

Natasha jammed her thumb on the button to call the elevator to the floor and it immediately pinged to signal that it had arrived. The doors slid open and Natasha stepped on, pressing the button for the 15th floor. The doors slid closed and Natasha rode the elevator to her floor.

The silent elevator ride was completely and utterly uncomfortable and it felt like the elevator was closing in on her. The elevator doors were barely open when they reached Natasha's floor when she squeezed through them and rushed to her bedroom. She slammed the door shut behind her and headed straight for her bed. She kneeled down next to her bed but not before she opened the drawer to her bedside table to snatch a small key from it.

Reaching underneath her bed, she pulled out a small but heavy lock box. She shoved the key into the lock, twisted it, and the lock box popped open. Inside were various fake legal documents including passports and driver's licenses. She knew that the moment SHIELD figured out she cancelled the rescue mission for Clint they would be looking for her on any outbound flight to Rome in the tri-state area. That's why she couldn't use any of the aliases she used while undercover for SHIELD. She had to use one of the aliases that were contained in the lock box. Of course they'd look for Natalie Rushman, but not Sofia Kopytnik. And then by the time they'd have the chance to hack into the airport's security feeds, Natasha would be long gone.

Natasha searched through the lock box for the various documents she would need to fly to Rome. She found the matching passport and license for Sofia Kopytnik and then she began to search for the credit card in Sofia's name so she'd be able to buy a plane ticket and book a hotel room without SHIELD knowing about it either. Natasha pulled the credit card out from underneath a pile of other fake passports and set it on top of Sofia's passport and license.

She slammed the top of the lock box shut and turned the key to lock it. Pulling the key out of the lock, she pushed the lock box back underneath her bed and returned the key to its proper and safe place. She gathered up the documents and slipped them into the back pocket of her jeans while she grabbed her duffle bag from the corner of the room to begin packing.

She knew she wouldn't end up in Rome and find Clint the moment she got there. She was going to have to do some major snooping before she could even go in and get him out. Therefore, she was going to have to bring civilians' clothes so as not to draw attention to herself in her catsuit.

Opening her closet, Natasha stared at the various items of clothing she owned. She didn't own much variety in the color department so maybe once she got to Rome she'd have to do some major shopping. Either way, she yanked some jeans and shirts off of their hangers and then shoved them into her duffle bag. She grabbed a few of the dresses she owned and shoved them into her bag as well. She bent down and grabbed a few pairs of shoes so she would have some variety to choose from.

Once she was satisfied with the amount of clothing she had packed, she yanked open her lingerie drawer and pulled out several pairs of underwear and a few bras. She packed them into her bag and then shoved her dresser drawer shut before fast-walking into the bathroom to grab the few toiletries she knew she would need.

Once all of her toiletries were packed away, she reached into the far corner of her closet and yanked her catsuit off of its hanger. She folded it up neatly before shoving it into her duffle bag. Then, she reached under her bed and snatched the briefcase holding all of her guns. She grabbed two of them, several cartridges, and her Widow's Bite and shoved them into the secret compartment in her duffle bag that was designed to not show up when she went through security. Finally, she grabbed her phone charger and the converter to plug into the wall to accommodate European electrical sockets before zipping her bag shut and hoisting it onto her shoulder. She swiped her phone off of her bed and then pulled out the fake documents from her back pocket before she exited her room.

She headed towards the elevator and jammed her thumb on the button to call the elevator to her floor. She shifted impatiently from each foot as she waited for the elevator to reach her floor. When it finally pinged to signal that it had arrived, the doors slid open to let Natasha step on. She knew she had to get upstairs to check Tony's progress, but there was one more thing she needed before she headed upstairs. She pressed the button for Clint's floor and the elevator doors slid closed.

The descent from the 15th floor to the 12th floor was over before it started and the doors slid open to reveal Clint's messy and vacant apartment. Natasha stepped off of the elevator and dropped her bag on the floor as she continued down the hallway to Clint's bedroom. The door was still open from when she was there a couple days ago and she made a bee-line for Clint's closet. She yanked open the doors and began pushing aside the few items of clothing Clint had actually managed to hang up. She dug deeper into the closet until she found the one item she was looking for.

In the far back of the closet was Clint's black leather jacket. Delicately, as if it were going to disintegrate with the slightest touch, Natasha pulled the black leather jacket off of its hanger and she backed out of the closet. Staring at the jacket in her hands, she slowly walked over to Clint's messy bed and sat down on the edge of it. She set the item of clothing in her lap and ran her hand over the rough, black material.

This was Clint's favorite jacket and it was because she had bought it for him for Christmas a couple years ago. She had been in Turkey on a solo mission about a month before Christmas and she'd seen the jacket in a shop window. She knew Clint would love it, mostly because he loved anything Natasha got him, even if it was the stupidest or cheapest thing in the world. But the jacket had cost Natasha a pretty penny – 715 Turkish liras which was about 400 U.S. dollars – and it was the most Natasha had ever spent on Clint.

Clint had loved it and it became his favorite item of clothing. The fact that he had left it behind for his mission to Rome actually hurt Natasha. He usually took it everywhere he went. Then again, she figured he might not have wanted to take it in case of something bad happening to him, like being compromised.

After staring at the jacket for a couple more minutes, Natasha stood up and slipped the jacket onto her small frame. She knew it would swallow her up. Clint was very broad shouldered so it was no doubt the fabric would be a little loose around her. She shoved her fake documents into the pocket on the inside of the coat for safe keeping and then she shoved her phone into her back pocket. She adjusted the coat in the places it felt uncomfortable before she walked out of the room with determination. She scooped up her duffle bag and pressed the call button for the elevator in one swift movement. When the elevator arrived, she walked in with her head held high and she pressed the button for Tony and Pepper's floor.

As the elevator began its ascent, Natasha knew she had to get Clint back. She knew that she could possibly die in the process but that didn't matter to her. As long as Clint was safe and sound, that's all that mattered.

The elevator pinged and the doors slid open the reveal Tony and Pepper's apartment. Tony was relaxed against the couch so Natasha figured he had cleared everything regarding Clint's rescue mission. If not, she was going to rip him a new asshole.

"Everything cleared?" Natasha inquired as she stepped off of the elevator.

Tony turned around, eyes wide with shock at Natasha's sudden and stealthy arrival. He composed himself before pushing himself off of the couch and clearing his throat. He grabbed his laptop and walked around the couch to meet Natasha halfway. "Ah yes Spidey, I'd say you have about two hours until SHIELD starts tracking you. I wouldn't be surprised if they're already monitoring the airports," Tony said.

Natasha nodded but didn't say anything.

"Look Romanoff, I know you want to do this alone, but you need some sort of back up…" Tony trailed off as he reached into his pocket to pull out a cell phone and a communication link for her ear. "Both of these contact me directly. If anything goes wrong, you need to tell me and I'll be in Rome as soon as possible."

As much as she hated Tony Stark, she had to admit he had a heart, even if that heart had a piece of shrapnel embedded in it. He cared about people other than Pepper and that's what convinced Natasha to nod her head in understanding and take the two devices.

"Thank you Tony," she said softly.

"Well," Tony sighed. "You better get going. SHIELD will be on your tail soon."

Natasha nodded and then turned on her heel to get back on the elevator. She knew she should say goodbye to Pepper because she knew it might be the last time she would see her. She knew she should formally say goodbye to Tony too but she wasn't one to make things sappy and sad. So she kept her eyes trained forward until the elevator doors slid open to let her step on. Sluggishly, she stepped onto the elevator and then pressed the button for the lobby.

For a split second before the elevator doors slid shut, Tony and Natasha's eye locked on each other and they silently said goodbye because even Tony knew Natasha might not come back. But of course Tony Stark wasn't one to make goodbyes sappy and sad either, so he just nodded at her and Natasha nodded back with a blank expression before the elevator doors slid shut.


Navigating through JFK International Airport was a nightmare and Natasha was reminded why she never flew commercial. Checking in was absolutely a pain in the ass and going through security was a nightmare. But when all was said and done, Natasha was headed to her gate in terminal one. She still had a good half hour before her flight was scheduled to board so Natasha bought a coffee and something to eat before she settled down in one of the chairs outside of her gate.

Just as she was finishing her coffee, her flight was announced as ready to board and Natasha got in line. Little by little she got closer to the desk to board the flight. When she finally reached the desk, she handed her documents to the woman. The woman looked at Natasha skeptically before handing her ticket and passport back to her with a smile.

"Bienvenuti ad Alitalia," the woman said. (Welcome to Alitalia.)

Natasha flashed the woman a half-assed smile and then walked through the tunnel to get onto the airplane. She smiled a half-assed smile at the flight attendant that welcomed her onto the plane and then Natasha made her way to her seat in first class. She shoved her carry-on into the compartment above her and then she settle down into her seat as she waited for everyone else to board the flight.

Natasha couldn't help but feel incredibly impatient as she waited for the rest of the passengers to board the plane. If she was flying out of a SHIELD base, she would probably already be taking off. But she couldn't fly out of a SHIELD base because she'd practically gone rogue. Therefore, Natasha had to be as patient as possible as she waited for every passenger to board the plane.

Finally, when everyone had boarded the plane, Natasha saw the flight attendants shut the door and lock it. Natasha let out a sigh of relief and hoped that they didn't sit on the runway for an eternity to wait to take off.

As the plane started to pull away from the gate, the pilot starting making his usual announcements over the communication system as the flight attendants did their usual spiel about safety and survival. Natasha rolled her eyes and tuned them out. She'd been through enough in her life to know what to do if the plane were to crash.

When the pilot finished talking and the flight attendants finished miming the pilot's directions, everyone took their seats and buckled up as they got ready for take-off. The plane slowly crept across the runway before coming to a stop to rev up the engines. Before Natasha knew it, the plane was gaining momentum as it raced across the runway. She felt the weightlessness as the plane lifted from the ground and into the air. As it began its ascent, she felt her ears pop and she immediately regretted not buying a pack of gum before she got to her gate.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the pilot said over the communication system. "We have reached our highest altitude so please settle in and relax. Take a nap. The next time you wake up, we will have arrived in Rome."

Suddenly, a nap seemed like a good idea to Natasha. She leaned her head against the window as she lazily stared out at the fluffy white clouds. She'd been going non-stop since the morning and suddenly it felt like her sparring match with Steve was years ago. So as she felt her eyelids beginning to droop closed, the last thought Natasha had before she drifted off to sleep was that the next time she woke up, she'd be one step closer to finding Clint.


And she's off to Rome! For the record, I know Italian but very little. I'm only in my second semester of it, so it might not be very good. Clearly Natasha is going to Rome so she'll need to speak some Italian to get around. So if anyone knows more Italian than I do, please don't judge me for how bad my grammar is. I'm only in Italian Language II haha. Just go easy on me.

As always, thank you for adding this to your favorites, signing up for alerts, and reviewing. Reviews are very much appreciated so please leave me a lovely review to let me know what you think!