I know this is a short update, but I'm already about halfway through writing the next chapter. Enjoy!


It had been a week since Natasha had told Clint to go through with the surgery, but Clint couldn't bring himself to tell Tony. There was a part of him that wanted to do it. He wanted to be able to hear on his own again. But there was also the part of him – and it was a huge part of him – that realized he maybe shouldn't do it. Not just for the sake of his child, but for Natasha's sake.

Clint knew Natasha too well. Her blank disposition when she told him to go forth with the surgery was a dead giveaway. This was bugging her and he knew she didn't want him to go through with it.

That's when Clint thought back to when he was in the hospital after the Brussels mission that left him without his hearing. When she had told him she was pregnant, he had struck a nerve when he said that she didn't want to be alone if she had the baby, after she had said that she was going to abort it. But Clint wasn't going to have it. He knew that she wanted it, but she didn't want to do it alone. Without Clint, there was no way she would be able to look at their child without seeing him.

He had been stupid, careless, and an all-around dumbass. He had gone back on his own word, and she had gone back on hers. He told her she wouldn't be alone in this, and he was so selfishly throwing everything away to be able to hear on his own again. She had told him that if he pulled another near-death stunt again, they were done. Clint's selfishness was enough to seem like a near-death stunt but Natasha was too emotionally invested to end it.

That was the problem, and Clint had been too selfish to notice it. He was basically preparing himself for death and Natasha was going to let him do it without ending whatever they had between the two of them. She had fallen for him – and it seemed like she had fallen hard – and Clint was throwing it all away.

As he walked down the hall of the SHIELD base to Director Fury's office, Clint grappled with a decision to make. He wanted his hearing back, but he didn't want to risk everything he had with Natasha. And he definitely didn't want to risk dying on the table and not meeting his child.

After Tony had proposed the plan to Clint, he immediately went to Fury to let him know that there was a way for their best marks man to get his hearing back. Once Fury was in the know, he approached Clint and told him that he needed to know ASAP if Clint wanted to go through with it so they could find him a donor and hire surgeons. Clint had spent the past week weighing the pros and cons, and as he walked towards Director Fury's office, he still hadn't officially come to a decision.

When he approached Fury's office, he took a deep breath before rapping his knuckles on the door three times. He heard Fury's deep voice tell him to enter and he pushed open the door and stepped in.

"Agent Barton," Fury's voice echoed throughout the vast room, "I trust you have a decision?"

"I think I do Director," Clint said uneasily.

"You think, Agent Barton? I told you to be sure of your decision when it came time for you to tell me."

"Okay Director," Clint said. "I know. I…I don't think I can do it."

"Are you sure, Agent Barton?" Director Fury asked. "You have wanted to regain your hearing ever since the mission in Brussels and now there's an opportunity to get it back and you say no?"

"With all due respect Director, I have a child on the way and there's a chance I could die on the table. There's always a chance you could die in surgery, but I can't risk that. I don't want my kid to grow up wondering who their dad was."

Fury leaned back into his chair and let out a deep breath. "Once again, are you sure Agent Barton?"

Clint took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm sure, Director."

"Okay, then I'll inform Stark and Banner that they should pack up all of their research."

"No offense Director, but are you trying to guilt me into it?" Clint asked.

"Absolutely not Agent Barton," Fury said sincerely. "Your hearing loss has not affected your marks man skills so I find no need to guilt or pressure you into doing this. However, if you are interested at some point in the future, the opportunity will be waiting for you."

"Thank you Director," Clint said with a nod.

"You are dismissed, Agent Barton."

Director Fury turned back to the work on his desk as Clint turned on his heel and marched out of the room. He was glad that Fury was supportive of his decision, despite the fact that Clint had been whining about his hearing loss practically all the time. It lifted his spirits knowing that Fury didn't think any less of him in spite of Clint's disability.

Now that the burden of the surgery was off of his shoulders, Clint had to fix things between him and Natasha. For the past week, Natasha had been avoiding him, only being in his presence when she would sneak in late at night and crawl into bed, sleeping on the farthest edge of the bed as possible. Even when he would see her around the SHIELD base, she would scamper off in the opposite direction when she would catch sight of him.

Clint hoped that she would be at their living quarters when he returned. He knew she wasn't due at the control room for another two hours and he knew the Black Widow wasn't that eager to report for work two hours early.

He entered the living quarters' wing of the SHIELD base and stopped outside of his room that he shared with Natasha, taking a deep breath. To tell the truth, Clint was actually excited to tell Natasha that he decided to not go forth with the surgery. Hopefully, that would fix things between the two of them and they could get back to normal.

Natasha was right when she had said that they were barely in an official relationship. Even after that night at the Avengers Tower when she had instigated the kiss outside, they still barely kissed. They barely showed any sort of affection to one another, unless sleeping in the same bed counted. Clint was hoping that with the air cleared from the surgery talk, they could finally talk about being a couple. They could finally officially be together.

Clint punched in the pass code and it granted him access to his room. He pushed open the door and stepped into the room where he found Natasha hunched over, gripping the side of the bed with white knuckles.

Clint immediately rushed to her side in a panic. "Tasha, oh my God, what's wrong!"

"I…I…don't know," she whimpered breathlessly. Then, she let out a high-pitched scream that made Clint wish he didn't have his hearing aids in. It wasn't because it was an annoying noise; it was because he didn't want to hear Natasha cry out in pain. Whatever was wrong with her, he didn't want to see her suffer.

He'd seen her be tortured countless times during missions, and though it would absolutely kill him to see her like that, he knew she would always pull through in the end. However, right now, he was absolutely terrified. Whatever was going on, there was not only something wrong with Natasha, but there definitely had to be something wrong with the baby. There could be no other possible explanation.

Clint's worst fear was made reality when Natasha pulled a shaky hand from the bed, felt between her legs, and came out smeared with crimson red blood.


Whoops! Did I forget to mention that this update is shorter because it has a cliffhanger at the end? My bad! For those of you that read Fix You know that I have a knack for drama and twists and turns so please stay tuned!

As always, thank you for adding this to your favorites, signing up for alerts, and reviewing. Please don't be mad at me! It will all work out in the end! Therefore, please review! Let me know what you think of Clint declining the offer for the surgery and my awful cliffhanger.