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Authors Note: Thank you all for your continued support and I am sorry this took so long! Please remember to leave a review!
Clint's POV
I glance over at the clock from where I am sitting by Nat's bed and realize that it's been nearly a few hours since she fell asleep. The others have decided to give us some space which I greatly appreciated. Suddenly she stirs and groans from the movement. Please don't wake up you need to sleep. I think to myself. She will never admit it but I can tell she is in a lot of pain. This makes me think of what lead to this and again I get the urge to go after Scott again. Suddenly I feel a hand on my shoulder which causes me to jump up and spin around ready to fight and seeing Steve standing there I relax.
"We need to talk about some things Clint" Steve explains. Clearly, he sees my hesitation to leave because he says "She will be okay for a few minutes Clint this won't take long." I look back at Nat and see that she's still sleeping so I take a deep breath and nod. Steve then turns around and quietly exits the room and I follow him out but leave the door open so I will know when she wakes. I follow Steve into a nearby room and see all the others standing inside, including Maria Hill. Now I realize why we needed to talk so badly.
"Hi Maria" I say as I join the others.
"Hello Clint. It's good to see you" She responds.
"Ok now that everyone is here we can begin. Maria what are your intentions?" Tony asks sounding suspicious.
"I thought I made myself clear when I helped Romanoff out of that hospital room and to you." She responds coldly.
"How do we know you're not playing us?" Wanda asks.
Maria pauses and has a slightly hurt look in her eyes and responds with "What could I possibly gain from that?"
"Our location. How do we know that you had to sneak Natasha out of the hospital at all? You could have drugged her before moving her. And how do we know that you won't turn us in as soon as we arrive at our location?" Tony questions.
Maria looks as though she is about to answer but I interrupt her.
"Enough!" I exclaim and everyone falls silent and stares at me.
I look directly into Marias eyes when I say "Maria helped Natasha because she is our friend. I know that you guys don't know her well but Maria is a close, trusted friend of Nat and I. When Phil died, she took over as our handler and we became close. She would never betray us and she hates what happened to Shied just as much as we do. We could use all of the help we can get and if you want to stay than your welcome to Maria." Then I exit the room and walk back to Nat's room.
I am surprised to find her awake when I enter the room.
"How are you feeling Nat?" I ask while cursing myself for how concerned my voice sounds because she hates that. She doesn't say anything but shoots me a look that makes it clear what's on her mind.
"Where did you go?" She asks.
"I had to take care of something." I explained hoping she wouldn't press for details because it will just upset her.
"That's pretty vague Clint. What happened?" She asks.
I sigh "The others were uncomfortable with Marias presence here" I explain.
"They think she will turn us in" she responds.
She is still so perceptive even in this condition I think to myself.
"Yeah they did but don't worry I set them straight" I reassure her.
"Wish I could have been there" she says with a heavy and tired voice.
"Don't worry you'll get your chance. Do you want me to bring them in here now for you?" I ask and she starts to laugh but it quickly turns into a groan of pain and the lighter mood evaporated into thin air.
"You should try and get some more sleep Nat." I advise with my voice full of concern.
"I know. It hurts Clint." She responds sounding weak and trying to repress the tears threatening to leak out. My heart shatters. I have never seen her like this not even after taking three bullets and a knife wound.
"I want to help. Tell me how I can help you" I beg resenting how helpless I felt in this situation.
"Distract me. Tell me of Laura and the kids, I haven't seen them since the Ultron incident" she says.
I nod. "They are doing well. Nathaniel is 5 months old now. He has so much personality Nat just like his name sake. If I didn't know better, I would think he was your son. I can't wait for you to meet him Nat. He is such a blessing."
"I can't wait." This is all she says before falling back into a light and troubled sleep.
About half an hour later Maria enters the room.
She walks up and stands next to me.
"She's strong Clint. She will pull through this." She says in effort to reassure me.
"I hope your right. I'm sorry for the way the others were acting, please don't take it personal they just don't know you very well yet" I respond sadly.
"It's ok Clint. To them I am just another government agent. It took you and Natasha a while to warm up to me as well" she explains.
Our conversation is interrupted when Tony enters the room.
"Were in Iceland and about to land at the location Banner told us" he informs.
"Thanks Tony" I respond and he leaves the room.
"Now maybe we can do something for her" Maria says sounding just as frustrated as I am.
"Let's go greet Banner" I say as I get up from my chair and walk out of the room. We walk to the front of the aircraft where Bruce has already boarded.
"You guys do know that I was trying to stay out of all this right" Bruce says sounding slightly annoyed.
"We wouldn't have involved you if it we had any other choice" Steve explains.
"I should see what we're dealing with" Bruce says.
He's the same old Banner. Right to business as usual. I think to myself.
"She's in here Bruce. You might want to brace yourself" I warn as we approach her room.
We stop outside her door and Bruce takes a breath. "Let's go Clint. Everyone else should stay out here." Bruce orders.
"Ok. We should get moving back to the abandoned Hydra base in Siberia" Steve suggests.
"That's a good idea" I agree before following Bruce into Natasha's room.
She was still asleep when we approached her bed. I notice that Bruce looks more than a little concerned.
"Looks like we have some work to do" he says with a sad but determined look on his face. For the first time since I saw her I feel as though she might be able to make a full recovery from this.
Authors Note: Thanks for reading and please leave a review, I really love hearing what you have to say! You can do so as a guest! Thanks, everyone! I will try to update soon!
