Following that Natasha refused to speak to Clint unless it were absolutely required. Clint was equally pissed at Natasha for taking unnecessary risks in the field; he was forever getting in trouble for having her back.

The awkward silences were torture for the rest of the team, Natasha ate alone everyday while the rest of the team had their meals together, and Clint had to find a new sparring partner when Natasha started training with Steve.

This went on for three weeks before Tony decided it had been long enough. He tried talking to Clint about it, but he was more stubborn than Tony had initially given him credit for. He then tried broaching the subject with Natasha who threatened to break his jaw if he continued.

He was forced to call in reinforcements.

They made sure the rest of the team was out; Tony dosed Clint's coffee with a mild sedative and dragged him to a closet, Pepper asked Natasha for help carrying something upstairs before locking her in. The two assassins were trapped together. Tony made sure JARVIS wouldn't let them out before him and Pepper left on a date.

Natasha sulked by the door; she was furious and annoyed. She had picked the lock but JARVIS was keeping the door firmly shut. Clint stirred from the other end of room and sat up with a start, glancing around him his eyes settled on Natasha, a confused expression worn openly on his face.

"Pepper and Tony's idea of a joke" she explained curtly

"It isn't very funny"

"You're telling me!"

They sat in silence for hours, Natasha by the door, Clint by the back wall, until he couldn't stand it any longer.

"What happened to us Nat?"

She shrugged; "sometimes things just fall apart"

"Why didn't we try and fix it?"

"We didn't have chance Clint, things aren't always that easy"

"We could have tried; I thought we had something Nat"

"We did"

He looked at her attentively, trying to get a read of her feelings. She avoided his gaze; staring intently at her feet as she hugged her knees to her chest.

"Can I ask you, why are you so mad at me?"

"You really have to ask?"

"I just did"

"You need to trust me Clint, you're always overstepping in the field. You don't believe I can take care of myself; I was in the field long before you came along Clint Barton, I don't need you to save me all the time!"

She was waiting for Clint to become defensive, for this to escalate into a shouting match, but instead he just sighed

"I'm sorry Nat; you're right"

She looked at him baffled

"I just hate that you have to put yourself in those situations, I hate seeing the way those guys look at you; like you're an object to be used and discarded. It makes me sick"

Natasha felt buried feelings bubbling back up to the surface. She looked at Clint and knew she'd never trusted anyone more, he'd been the only stable thing in her life; the one constant, the one good thing she'd ever been allowed. He'd changed her life, in more ways than one; he'd fixed her and built her back up, given her a second chance and taught her how to trust.

Clint was still slumped in the corner, eyes fixed on his hands. So when he felt Natasha's lips on his he was taken aback. She pulled away as he tenses with shock, unsure of what it meant, but was relieved when he pulled her back to him.
His hands were on her back, keeping her close to him. Her hands were in his hair, keeping his lips pressed to hers. They kissed with urgency, as if trying to make up for the missed years. Neither of them had spoken any more truth than those few words uttered in a collapsing building in Marrakesh.

"I love you" they both said breathlessly

They took the time to relearn each other bodies; they'd both gained new scars since they'd last been together. Natasha had a stab wound across her abdomen and a bullet wound in the thigh, Clint had a long scar down his back from an operation and three small puncture wounds in his shoulder.
They slept together and for the first time in a long time they felt complete. They fell asleep, content, in each other's arms.