A/N: Quick shout out to my friend Agent Romanov for helping me with some of the details for this chapter :-) Sorry about the wait for an update, but here's some for you all to enjoy!


Chapter 9: The Hurt and The Healer

Coulson paced back and forth on the landing strip, wringing his hands. Behind him were four nurses and a stretcher, the medical team that Barton had requested in his brief dispatch.

Which was basically the entire reason for Coulson' worry. Because unless someone was dying, Barton and Romanoff didn't request medical teams.

A new wave of anxiety washed over Coulson and his forehead folded into creases. The woman behind him shot him a concerned look.

"Calm down Coulson, I'm sure they're fine."

Coulson rounded on Maria Hill. "Fine? I don't think so Maria. If they were fine, they wouldn't need a medical team. Hell, even if they weren't fine, they wouldn't need a medical team. This has to be way past fine for them to even think about requesting a medical team."

He broke off breathing heavily. Hill shook her head.

"That's not what I meant. I mean, Barton and Romanoff are probably fine. I think the med team is for one of the twins."

Coulson pursed his lips. "Even if it is, the situation is probably still fatal. Barton knows full well that if a trainee is injured their SO has to go to Medical with them, so one of them is going to end up in Medical and they wouldn't risk that unless…"

He trailed off as a roar filled the sky and the S.H.I.E.L.D. jet came into view. Coulson tensed and the medical team assumed a ready stance as the jet started its descent. The wheels dropped out and the plane touched down. Coulson, Hill, and the nurses ran to meet it as it taxied down the runway. Before the aircraft had stopped moving the cabin door had been flung open and one of the twins was out. Whichever one it was-Coulson couldn't tell-took off running like her life depended on it. She flew past the little greeting party, cold determination written on her face. A few seconds after she came out the next figure emerged. Coulson breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Barton, walking on his own two feet, only to tense with worry when he saw the young redhead in the agent's arms.

"Told you it was a twin," muttered Hill. Coulson didn't bother with sending her a withering glance. He stared anxiously at the cabin door, only relaxing when Natasha finally emerged. Barton made it over to the med team and laid the twin on the stretcher.

"Take her to Medical. Whatever you do don't wake her up, I don't care a damn bit what the doctors say. The only thing you are allowed to do is make her comfortable until her sister gets there. When her sister gets there you let her do whatever the hell she feels she needs to. Got that?"

He glared threateningly at each nurse until they nodded, then he released his grip on the twin and let them roll her away as quickly as they could without disturbing her. Barton turned to face his handler, Romanoff coming to stand next to him. Coulson stared after the med team for a few seconds, and then spun back to his agents.

"What the hell happened?"

"The mission went fine," said Natasha, interjecting before Barton could speak and directing her statement to Hill, "we got in, we got the info, and we got out. Standard procedure. This happened on the plane ride back."

"And what exactly is this?" asked Coulson through gritted teeth.

"Anastasia had an allergic reaction after we returned to the plane." Barton kept his voice calm and even, not letting his frustration and worry for his protégée slip through.

"She doesn't have any allergies on file."

Natasha sent Coulson a look. "Really Coulson, after you've been my handler for however long and with what you know of her past, do you really think that she shared everything with us? That either of them did?"

Coulson jerked his head to the side, conceding slightly. "So what's she allergic to and why does she still need medical? Shouldn't she have taken care of whatever it is en route?"

Barton and Romanoff both hesitated, and Barton finally said, "She didn't have the right medication with her, but that's all I'm going to say. If she wants to tell you when she wakes up, that's fine Coulson. But I'm not telling you, and I don't think Natasha is either. Sorry."

Coulson's eyes hardened. "Why is this such a big deal? It's just an allergy, it's nothing bad-"

"Trust me Coulson, with people like us, anything is bad." Natasha cut their handler off. "Now we really need to go, since we're both going to be required in Medical shortly."

Both agents pushed past Coulson and Hill and started off at a very quick pace, making their way to the one place at S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ that they normally avoided like the plague. Coulson shook his head at both of their retreating figures and then he looked at Hill, smiling wryly.

"I think that this might be the only time they've been in a hurry to get to Medical."


Natalia didn't think as she flew across the tarmac. She zoned her vision in on her sole goal: the door that would take her inside S.H.I.E.L.D. She didn't register the gaggle of people watching the plane land; they weren't even remotely important to her in the big scheme of things. Talia reached the door and roughly pulled it open, darting inside. She was already down the hall by the time it slammed shut behind her. The halls were fairly crowded, but apparently her status as the Black Widow's trainee granted her the same courtesy that her SO received. Whatever it was, when the agents saw her coming, they got out of her way like they were going to die if they didn't.

Of course, given the circumstances, there was a chance that they might.

Blessedly, this meant that Natalia was able to get to Stasia's dorm in record time. She didn't bother with the key; instead she launched a solid kick at the door and splintered the wood around the lock. Rushing inside, she saw exactly what she was looking for lying on the dresser: the injector. Snatching it up she spun around and fled the room, dashing as fast as she possibly could in the direction of Medical.


When she reached the automatic glass doors, Natalia saw a long line of doctors and nurses who were glancing between the door and a room down the hall. One of them saw Talia through the doors and gave a shout. The sea of white coats parted and Natalia sprinted through them into the room. Her sister was lying on the bed, looking pale and very weak. Talia choked back a sob; it had been years since she had seen her sister like this. The medical staff that was attending Stasia stepped back as Natalia entered the room, but as soon as they did, Stasia's body jerked and her heart rate monitor jumped from a flatline to erratic beeping. Panic ripped through Natalia, tearing her in half.

NO! I am not too late!

A small part of her registered Barton and Romanoff running up to the room and gasping in shock at what was happening to Anastasia. If she had been able to look at the two senior agents, Natalia would have found genuine fear in their eyes. The panic vanished from her system, replaced by a fierce protective instinct and fiery determination. She hit a button on the injector and waited, heart pounding as she watched her sister start to die in front of her eyes. Talia focused on her breathing as the device in her hand started to grow warm.

This isn't the first time Natalia. You are strong. She needs you to be able to do this, so you are going to do it.

She took another deep breath in through her nose; the injector was reaching peak temperature and rapidly becoming too hot to hold. She tried with everything in her not to notice the panicked motions of the medical staff or the fear that was on Barton and Romanoff's faces. Talia stepped forward to stand right next to her sister. The injector turned hot enough to blister Natalia's hand just as Anastasia opened her mouth to take a breath of oxygen that would be fatal. Fear spiked in her heart and Talia jabbed the injector into her sister's neck with as much force as she could muster. Stasia breathed in…

And didn't cough.

Natalia sagged with relief, feeling her legs give out from under her. She collapsed to the floor, reassured by the rapidly steadying beeping from her sister's heart monitor. The doctors in the room were watching her, fascinated by what they had just seen. They obviously had some questions, but before they could even start they found themselves face-to-face with one of their worst nightmares: Agent Clint Barton. He glared at them with folded arms, daring them to harass either twin while Natasha slipped past him and gathered Natalia into her arms. She started to move toward the door when she felt a weak resistance in her arms.

"No…I have to…stay…" muttered Natalia. Natasha stopped walking and sent a pointed look to Barton, who in turn looked at the doctors and basically told them to get out.

Needless to say, they listened.

Romanoff gently lay Natalia down on the bed next to Stasia and the former instinctively curled around her sister. Barton locked the door behind the doctors and pulled the blinds down to give the four of them some relative privacy. He dragged the sort of comfortable arm chair over next to the bed and sat in it, assuming a position he had held many times before at the bedside of his own partner. Carefully, he reached up and took one of Stasia's hands in his own and began lightly tracing shapes on her skin. Natasha read the worry in his eyes without any difficulty.

"Natalia, how long before she wakes up?" she asked softly.

Natalia blinked and turned to look at her SO. "Could be anywhere from a couple minutes to a couple hours," she replied. Natasha nodded and perched herself on the edge of the bed, curling into a tiny ball. Barton just stared at his trainee and they both settled in to wait it out.


Three hours later found Romanoff staring at the plants outside the hospital room window and Barton lying his head down on the side of the bed, eyes still trained on Stasia. Both of them were exhausted, but neither was willing to go to sleep until they were absolutely sure that Anastasia was okay. Natalia was still curled around her sister but had long ago drifted off into unconsciousness.

"Natalia…?" A dry, rough voice cut through the silence. Barton lifted his head off of the mattress and Natasha spun around, reacting to the name purely on instinct.

"I'm her-" she paused when she realized what she was saying and she swallowed before correcting herself. "She's right here Anastasia."

Barton shot his partner a concerned look; it wasn't often that Natasha relapsed and started thinking of herself as Natalia again. She shook her head at him and they both turned their attention to the twins.

The sound of their voices had effectively jerked Natalia from her uneasy sleep and the girl propped herself up on one elbow.

"Stasia?"

Anastasia turned her head so that her sister could see her open eyes.

"Hey," she said casually, as if she hadn't almost died. Natalia wrapped her arms tightly around Stasia's neck and squeezed her tightly, tears pricking her eyes when she felt Stasia wrap her arms around her waist and return the hug. Talia pulled back and glared harshly at her sister, the annoyance with her starting to filter through the relief. Before her actions completely registered, Natalia drew back a hand and smacked her sister clean across the cheek. The slap made a loud cracking noise and Stasia winced, but didn't protest.

"I suppose I deserved that," she admitted.

"You bet you did." Natalia glowered down at her. "Why in the world didn't you tell me that you left your meds here?!"

"It wasn't like you could do anything about it Talia."

"For all you know, I keep an extra dosage in my pocket." Stasia rolled her eyes at Talia's suggestion.

"I know full well that you don't do that because we only have one injector."

"Whatever." Natalia fixed her sister with a serious scowl. "Next time, which there won't be one, but if there ever is, for anything, you better tell me. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am," muttered Stasia, huffing a little at Talia's mothering.

"She's not the only one you're going to tell." Barton finally spoke, injecting himself into the conversation. Both twins turned to look at him. Anastasia kind of frowned, a puzzled look crossing her face.

"What?" asked Barton, "Do I have something on my face?"

"No, it's just…." Stasia bit her lip, hesitating over her words, "well, I guess…why are you two still here?"

Barton looked surprised, and a tiny bit insulted. "You think we would just abandon you two to the medical staff?"

Natasha snorted at that and the twins glanced over at her before looking back at Barton.

"No it's just…" Natalia bit her lip, "well, don't you guys have other, more important things to be doing than sitting in a hospital room for three hours?"

"No." Clint didn't elaborate on his statement; he just let it hang in the air with all the implications that accompanied it. Anastasia wrinkled her nose in confusion.

"But didn't you guys want to go sleep or something?"

"When one of us is injured, we don't sleep." Natasha responded to the girls this time. "Not until we know that they are absolutely okay."

"Well yeah that makes sense, you guys are partners." Natalia looked between the two mentors. "But neither one of you was injured so…"

Barton and Romanoff didn't reply; they just stared at the twins, waiting for them to catch on. Finally they both drew in sharp breaths.

"Oh," they said together and they met each other's eyes.

We're part of the 'us'.

Tears pricked both girl's eyes again, but they both forced them back. It was a strange sensation, like being a part of a family again.

What did we do to deserve this? thought Talia. To deserve another chance to be happy?

Stasia squeezed her hand and looked up at Natasha.

"Спасибо, сестра." (Thank you, sister)

Natasha froze at the girl's choice of words. She blinked rapidly and looked at both of them. She kept her face neutral but inside a raging turmoil broke out.

What is happening to me? How can they do this to me?

She managed a slight nod and she turned to go, needing an escape from the emotion of the moment. Her hand lightly brushed Barton's shoulder and then she was gone. Barton watched the empty doorway for a moment, then looked back at the twins.

"What did you call her?"

They regarded him for a second, but they didn't answer his question. Instead, Anastasia turned toward her sister and grinned.

"Вы знаете, если она наша сестра, то он полностью наш брат-в-законе." (You know, if she's our sister, then he's totally our brother in law.)

Natalia snorted, lacing her fingers through Stasia's.

"Вы лучше не давайте Наташа слышу, вы говорите, что." (You better not let Natasha hear you say that.)

Anastasia chuckled and Clint groaned, throwing his hands up in surrender.

"Have I mentioned lately how much I hate it when you all talk in Russian?"

The twins smiled angelically at him and he rolled his eyes.

"Well, whatever you said, I'm glad you're awake. Now I'm going to go get some sleep. You two have fun." And with that, Barton exited the room.

"You scared me," whispered Talia after a few seconds of silence.

"I'm sorry," Stasia whispered back. She leaned her head against Talia's arm, waiting for the other girl to say something. When Natalia didn't oblige, Stasia broke the silence again.

"Do you think we should tell them about….the other thing?"

"No." Natalia's voice was firm and dark. "We swore we would never tell a soul; even these two won't change that."

Stasia nodded, her cheek rubbing against the sheets. A huge yawn split her head in two and Natalia smiled softly.

"Get some rest, Stasia. The world will be waiting when you wake up."

Anastasia smiled sleepily and closed her eyes, laying her head back down on the pillow.

Natalia watched her sister drift off and she relaxed next to her, still much in need of sleep herself. She floated slowly toward unconsciousness, her last words to her sister echoing in her mind.

The world will be waiting…


Sleep had never come easy to Natasha, at least not when she was alone, so she wasn't surprised to find herself tossing and turning that night. Around two in the morning she finally gave up on any notion of sleep and rolled out of bed, intending to hit the training room for a bit. Dressed in workout gear, she made her way down the hall. Once she reached the end, Natasha hesitated, deliberating for a moment. Finally, she turned left, away from the training room, but toward Medical.

I'm just checking up on them.

That was perfectly natural, wasn't it? She was Natalia's SO; it only made sense that Natasha should want to make sure that Natalia was doing okay and obviously Natalia would be with Anastasia, so Natasha might as well check up on her as well.

It only makes sense.

At least, that was what Natasha told herself as she walked stealthily down the hallway to the entrance to Medical. The agent on duty, some level one or two operative that Natasha didn't know, nodded to her as she walked in, not questioning why she was visiting Medical at two in the morning; most young agents had learned by now no to question the Black Widow, or her partner for that matter, on anything they did. They always had a reason. It might not necessarily be a good one, but they always had one.

Natasha crept up to the door to the twin's room and silently entered. Natalia was curled up against Stasia's back and both were sleeping deeply, Stasia's even breaths being marked by the constant beep of her heart monitor. Natasha slipped up alongside the bed and gazed down at the girl's peaceful faces, so full of youth and just life. She reached out and gently brushed a piece of hair back from Natalia's forehead, careful not to disturb the girl while she tucked it behind her ear. The silence was comfortable in the room as Natasha stared down at the twins. She had been trying with little success to avoid thinking about what Anastasia had called her earlier and, more importantly, why she had called her that.

Сестра.

Sister.

Why?

Natasha implored the question at the sleeping girls in front of her, as if she could drag an answer from their unconscious bodies.

You were raised to hate me…how can you be…whatever this is that you are?

Natasha shook her head and lowered her face into her hands.

But most of all, how can you both do…whatever it is you're doing to me? It's never like this, not with anyone. Why do you both make me…make me feel?

"Tasha?"

Natasha looked up to where the voice came from, her eyes going to the air vent out of habit. She could just make out Barton's face between the slats of metal.

"Barton."

"You know they aren't going to wake up just because you're here staring at them," he whispered, "trust me; I've been trying it all night."

Natasha rolled her eyes and turned her focus back to the twins. "What if I don't want them to wake up?"

"Well then, I promise not to spread rumors about your liking to stare at sleeping children."

"You're damn lucky that I can't shoot you Barton." Natasha glared daggers at the ceiling.

"You wouldn't shoot me, Tasha."

"Try me. Why've you been here all night?"

"Couldn't sleep."

Natasha nodded; she had figured as much. The two of them lapsed back into silence for a few minutes, both of them keeping watch over their protégés.

"I think they're going to be okay," Clint finally whispered, "you wanna go….somewhere else?"

A wrinkle passed for a fleeting moment over Natasha's nose while she contemplated Clint's words. She sent a glance out at the reception area and then looked back at the twins. They would probably be okay with just each other for company; they had survived long enough that way. She hadn't gotten the answers that she came for, but she knew that odds were she never would. Sighing she nodded slightly, knowing Clint was watching her and the slight shifting of the air vent cover confirmed it. She stood and walked over so that she was standing right underneath the opening in the ceiling. Natasha sent one last glance at the girls and then stomped down on her confusion and questions, locking them tightly away. She reached up and jumped, grabbing onto Clint in a move they had done many times before and pulling herself into the air vents. Barton smiled at her and she just rolled her eyes.

"Lead the way, bird boy."

Barton stuck his tongue out at her before turning and heading off to the left and Natasha smirked. Both agents kept their minds in the present moment; trying with all their might not to think of their two trainees lying back in Medical and the path that all four of them were heading down.

A path that was rapidly being defined by two blond twins who were worming their ways into the stone cold hearts of a couple of master assassins.