Trigger warnings in this chapter….
Chapter Seven: It's How You Deal With It That Counts
For the first time in a long time, Clint felt happy. He was doing well at school, family life was good, he hadn't had many nightmares and on top of it all, he had an amazing girlfriend who accepted him despite all of his flaws. He couldn't ask for mire.
He got out of the car, smiling when Natasha walked down the path to meet him. As she reached the car, she raised an eyebrow at him. "What has you so happy?" she asked as she stepped into his arms. "It's 07:05. And you haven't had enough coffee."
"Christmas break," he answered, kissing her softly. "I want to know if you would like to come with me to a cabin for a week after Christmas."
Natasha smiled and pulled back. "Seriously?" she asked. "How did you manage that?"
"Phil owns a cabin," Clint answered. "Skye and Grant are staying at my house. Barney and Ashley will be home. So I thought I'd offer time for just you and me?" He phrased it like a question, unsure of her reaction.
Natasha tilted her head to the side. "I'll ave to ask," she started, bringing her hands to cup his face gently. "But you have a provisional yes from me, Yastreb," she added before leaning forward and pressing her lips to his softly.
Clint smiled against her lips. "Thank you," he mumbled against her lips.
"Thank you," she repeated as she slowly pulled away. "Now, I want to get into the car. It's freezing out."
Clint chuckled and moved to open the passenger's door for her. "That explains why you've been stealing my hoodies," he commented.
"They're comfortable," Natasha replied. "And you've never complained," she added as he climbed into the driver's seat.
"Not complaining," Clint answered. "Just pointing it out, Sweetheart."
Natasha smirked and put her feet up on the dashboard as Clint pulled out of the driveway. She reached over and rested her hand on his knee, not to distract him but to simply have contact with him.
Clint reached down and squeezed her hand softly before returning his hand to the steering wheel. They remained quiet for the majority of the ride, each comfortable to remain silent with each other.
As they pulled into he school yard, Natasha noticed the jocks standing in their usual spot at the door. She groaned at the sight of them.
"We can sneak around back," Clint informed her, making her look over at him. "I know how much you hate those bastards."
Natasha smiled at him weakly. "I knew you loved me," she quipped, half meaning it. "Thank you, Yastreb."
Clint reached down to her hand and squeezed it softly. He drove to the spot the teachers usually parked and pulled in. Natasha raised an eyebrow at him as he pulled out a permit, Melinda's permit, and placed it on the dashboard. "That's cheating," she teased.
Clint smirked. "This was supposed to be Melinda's car. She gave it to me," he replied, looking at his girlfriend. "The permit was given to me because of medical grounds. It's under Melinda's name but I use it when I need to."
Natasha leaned over the middle console and kissed him, her hand coming up to cup the back of his head. He responded enthusiastically, smiling against her lips. When they eventually broke the kiss, Natasha rested her forehead on his. "When you asked about what happened in Moscow," she started.
"Tasha, you don't have to tell me," he whispered.
"You were honest with me," she replied. "I don't feel like I owe you. I don't feel like you've pressured me into telling you. I want to be honest. And you've repeatedly shown that I can trust you."
Clint took her hands in his, watching her carefully as he waited for her to tell him what she needed to tell him.
Natasha took a deep breath. "When I was still in the orphanage in Moscow, I started dating one of my fellow orphans, Alexei. We went out for about six months before his so-called friends decided that he wasn't sharing the goods enough," she confessed to him. "One day, Alexei and I were coming home from my dance recital. His friends, part of a gang, attacked us. Pulled a knife and threatened to kill me if Alexei didn't let them have their way with me. He didn't. So when he moved and broke two of the men's arms while I took care of another two, their boss shot Alexei. Cold-blood shot to the heart. Then the leader proceeded to try and rape me but the gunshot had been heard, alerting police and the gang fled as they arrived. Alexei died in my arms."
"Tasha," Clint whispered, bringing his hands up to cup her face, not knowing what words to say as tears gathered in her eyes but didn't fall.
"That's why I don't like gangs of boys standing around, cat-calling and making lewd comments," she continued. "It's why I don't trust the majority of men I meet. Because they could be exactly like those bastards in Russia."
"Come here," he whispered. It took some manoeuvring but Natasha managed to nimbly climb over the middle console into his lap. He pushed the seat back as far as it could go to allow her comfort as she straddled him. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, holding onto him as she shook; she didn't cry but the shakes coming from her were enough. Clint pressed his lips to the top of her head before resting his cheek against her. He didn't bother saying anything because no word would be enough for her; they had both gone through hell.
Natasha clutched onto Clint. Other than Maria and Nick, no one knew what had happened to Natasha that night. Now Clint knew as well. But instead of running for the hills, he had pulled her into his arms and held her tight, as if letting her go would physically hurt him.
Eventually, Natasha pulled back and wiped at her unshed tears. "Thank you," she whispered, looking him in the eye.
Clint smiled back at her softly but she could see the empathy in his eyes. "I've got you," he promised. "Whatever you need from me, just ask and I will do my best to do it for you."
Natasha returned his smile and leaned forward to kiss his lips chastely. "Likewise, moy Yastreb," she whispered as she pulled away.
Clint pecked her lips again before nodding his head to the school. "We should go in before your mom or dad pulls us up on being late," he stated, half serious.
Natasha grinned. "Well, if you want me to come with you to a cabin, on our own," she started, "I guess we should be on our best behaviour."
"Precisely," Clint agreed, returning her smirk. He opened the door so they could climb out, grabbing their bags from the back seat. Natasha interlaced her fingers with his as she let him lead her in the back way of the school. They made their way to their lockers to retrieve their books for class before making their way to the classroom so they wouldn't be late. After all, it was the last day before Christmas break…
Natasha shook her head as Tony and Steve argued over one thing or another. She turned to Clint who was glaring at the two of them.
"Damnit, Steve, it's a party. Everyone is going. Eva could convince Bucky to go. Hell, Sharon could want to go. But you're too damn thick to fucking realise that Sharon is afraid that you're going to get killed someday if you join the Army!" Tony finally shouted, making everyone in the cafeteria turn and look at the two.
Natasha and Clint shared a look; that is why Sharon and Steve had been tense around each other for the past three weeks.
Steve looked as if Tony had slapped him across the face with a metal bar. "Thanks, Stark. Why don't you keep reminding me of the very reason my girlfriend broke up with me last night?" Steve replied before storming out of the room.
Clint and James glared at him. "Thanks, fuckhead," James grunted before running after his best friend.
Tony turned to Natasha and Clint. "Am I the only one who didn't know about that?" he finally asked, looking like Steve had punched him in the stomach.
Natasha shook her head. "He didn't tell either of us. But that would explain why no one has seen Sharon today," she answered. She looked at Clint. "We can't blame him if he didn't know," she stated.
Clint closed his eyes and sighed. Then he looked at Tony. "You have a lot of apologising to do," he told the genius.
Tony nodded, looking up when Pepper entered the cafeteria. "Don't kill me," he greeted.
Pepper just shook her head and sat down. "Sharon's been pulling a Clint and Natasha. Can't find her anywhere," she stated. "She's in but avoiding all of us."
Natasha looked at Clint before looking back at the other two. "I'll find her," she stated, getting up and walking out of the cafeteria. She headed straight for the one place most of their group would never look; the roof.
Sure enough, the red-head found the blonde sitting on the roof, headphones on and eyes closed.
Natasha slowly approached her, making enough noise to alert Sharon she was there. Sharon's eyes flew open and she relaxed when she realised it was Natasha. "What's up, Nat?" Sharon greeted, taking her headphones off and stopping the playlist she was listening to.
"You know running away doesn't solve anything?" Natasha replied as she sat down in front of Sharon, crossing her legs Indian-style.
Sharon bit her bottom lip and twisted her head to look over Natasha's head. "He's made his decision. That doesn't include me. I said goodbye before he could hurt me," she finally answered as she looked back at the red-head.
Natasha noticed the way her voice cracked at the end. "It still hurts," she stated.
Sharon smiled weakly. "A wise woman once told me that in life you're always going to lose people you care for. It's how you deal with it that counts," she stated. "I said goodbye before he could hurt me; I showed my cards as did he."
Natasha shook her head. "Hurting yourself isn't dealing with it, Sharon," she replied. "Hurting Steve isn't dealing with it. Is breaking up with him the best option you have?"
Sharon pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. "It's the only option that I can see right now."
Natasha moved so she was sitting beside her. "You're the year behind Steve in school," Natasha started. "You two have been seeing each other for two years. Apart from James, you are Steve's best friend. You are each other's confidant. Is that worth throwing away just because you two had a fight over career choices?"
"I'm afraid that one day I'll wake up to a call that he was killed in action because of his damn self-sacrifice martyr complex," Sharon replied. "I… I'm not invincible. Steve's not invincible."
Natasha nodded in understanding. "I get that. But is the pain of seeing him every day and not knowing what could have been… That's going to scar you more than you think."
Sharon sighed. "And feeling like he doesn't give a damn about what I think is just as bad."
Natasha leaned back; well that did complicate things. "Want me to kick his ass for you?" she offered.
Sharon let out a broken chuckle. "He's pure muscle. Even if you did beat him up, I don't think it would hurt him that much," she commented. "But thank you for the offer, Nat."
Natasha turned to her. "James is going to kill him after he's done consoling him," the red-head commented…
Clint found Steve and James in the gym, Steve currently beating the shit out of a punching bag. "You know how we are the stoic two in our group?" Clint greeted as he stood beside James, the two of them watching Steve. "Should we now consider Steve one of us too?"
James looked at the archer. "He hurt her. She responded by breaking up with him. He's an idiot," he stated. "Fucking idiot. Why would he not fucking tell his girl that he had applied to join the army after school?"
Clint watched Steve angrily punch the bag as his whole body shook. "Because he didn't want to say goodbye."
"Have you seen Sharon?" James asked, loud enough for Steve to hear him. "She's been ignoring everyone in our group of friends today."
"Tasha went looking for her," Clint replied. "See if she can convince her that we're not going to turn on her because she responded to Captain America being a jerk by breaking up with him."
Steve immediately stopped punching the bag. "You two are not helping me," he stated, turning to look at them.
"You didn't tell your girlfriend that you had applied to join the army after school!" Clint replied as if it was so obvious what Steve had done wrong. "What do you think we were going to do?"
Steve rested his head on the punching bag. "She hasn't returned any of my calls or texts," he stated brokenly. "I don't know what to do."
Clint and James looked at each other in surprise; Steven Grant Rogers, Captain America, was not one to be unsure like this. He was not the one to be broken. He was the one everyone looked to. He was the rock for everyone else.
Clint text Natasha; we have a problem. Steve's breaking down.
How bad?
He doesn't know what to do. His words exactly.
Lovely. Sharon's not much better.
Plan of action moya pauk?
Lock them in a room together until they kill each other or make up. One or the other.
And how are we going to do that?
Get them to go to Phil; he is the school conselor after all.
Like couple therapy?
Except Phil isn't going to be there for their talk.
Clint turned to James as Steve walked over to his towel. "Think it will work?" he asked quietly, handing James his phone.
James smirked. "Your girl is clever," he commented. "Let's do it."
Clint text Natasha; Text Phil. Bucky and I will get Steve to his office.
Perfect. I'll work on Sharon.
"Oi, punk," James shouted. "You're going to see Phil. Whether you like it or not."
Steve turned to look at them. "I don't think Phil can help me with this?"
Clint raised an eyebrow at him. "You're going. You think you can take on Bucky and me together?"
Steve sighed. "Fine," he reluctantly agreed.
James and Clint shared a look; this would go do well…
"Come on. What damage could it do?" Natasha asked as she walked with Sharon towards Phil's office.
"Re-open wounds I don't want opened again?" Sharon replied.
"Suck it up, Carter. You can't have everything your own way," Natasha replied as they arrived at the office. "Think of this as punishment for avoiding your friends because you responded to Steve being an idiot by breaking up with him. We're not going to isolate you because of it."
Sharon shook her head and entered the office, freezing as the door closed behind her and only Steve was in the room with her.
"What are you doing here?" they asked at the same time, making Natasha, Clint and James snicker behind the closed door.
"They're going to murder us," Clint commented as he locked the door.
"You two are going to talk if it's the last fucking thing you do!" Natasha shouted at the former couple through the door. She turned to look at Clint and James. "How long shall we leave them in there?"
"How long will Phil be gone?" James asked. "Let them out when Phil comes back from the meeting."
Clint chuckled. "That'll be so funny," he commented. "Let them try to explain that with a straight face."
Natasha smiled. "And who said Tony was the bad influence in the group?"
Thank you to everyone for the support (and I apologise for the long wait for an update).
To answer the reviews from the previous chapter:
CapHawkWidowThorIronHulk: Thank you :) Hope this was worth the wait :)
Avengingprincess: Yes, I am Irish :D
ElsaTheSnowQueen2: Thank you :) I hope you enjoyed the scenes in this chapter too :)
Guest: Thank you :) I hope this was as good as the last chapter :)
ScarlettBarton: What did you hit?
Princess2016: Thank you :) I hope this was just as good :)
Kate: Thank you :) Hope this was as just as good :)
Sith Shadow Stalker: I agree that this could be quite amusing for parents reading it :) Thank you :)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The conversation between Sharon and Steve, and their relationship, will be fully displayed in their story in this universe, "Please Don't Leave Me"; if anyone is interested.
