SO sorry for the delay - I've just been so busy and haven't found much time to write and edit. I don't want to post anything that has errors or is not well written.
Thanks to all those who have continued to follow this story and are still following - it feels so great to check my email and see new followers and favorites.
So - things finally get moving in this chapter. I think one or two more chapters ought to finish this off. But don't worry, I have a few spin-offs in mind.
Clint knew they couldn't bide their time for too much longer, something was going to happen soon and they couldn't hide forever.
After persuading Natasha that his system would be secure, he went into town to connect the wifi and phone in the house, under the assumed name that was on the property deed, Bernard Clifton.
She'd raised an eyebrow at him when she'd seen his alias but he promptly reminded her of how unimaginative Natalie Rushman was and she made no further comment over the subject.
They used the Internet in the state of the art systems room Clint had built into the basement of the cabin to scan news headlines from around the world and Clint briefly toyed with the idea of hacking into SHIELD's security files but he decided to wait a little longer before blowing their cover.
They spent the other hours of their days training for the ultimate battle they knew was coming, sparring until they couldn't move, memorizing and cataloging the others movements and figuring out ways to overcome them.
Clint set up some practice targets and they both used them: his becoming filled with arrow after arrow and Natasha's occupied by an assortment of throwing knives and stars.
At Natasha's insistence and Clint's extreme reluctance, they also practiced ways to keep their connection to each other strong, just in case. They did a combination of meditation and yoga and rehearsed code words for hours. They went over memories with each other, the good and bad, reliving each event in as much detail as possible, just in case one's mind was all of a sudden not theirs.
As much as he protested, Clint actually grew to like the calming spirit of the yoga and meditation techniques. He learned how to clear his mind and focus and sometimes amazing things would pop into his head.
"You could still take your shot."
"What?" his eyes snapped open.
"I didn't say anything," Natasha murmured, her eyes still closed.
"You could still take your shot," he repeated what he had heard. She opened one eye and peered at him, annoyed, "That's what you said to me, in Central Park, when Thor was taking Loki back to Asgard."
She exhaled and closed her eye again, trying to refocus on her meditation.
It's why I was grinning; Clint thought, from a small, offhand comment. He huffed and closed his eyes again but he couldn't concentrate, instead he just kept playing those few minutes over and over in his head. He could almost feel the cool breeze from that day, hear the sounds of traffic going on around them, and smell the cinnamon on Natasha's breath from her gum as she whispered to him.
What if he had taken the shot? He could have pulled his bow out and released the arrow before anyone knew what was going on. Everything would have been different now, if only he would have known.
Hindsight is 20/20.
He felt his skin crawl, itchy with the anger he was holding inside and he couldn't sit still anymore. He stood without warning and stalked outside, gulping in breaths of the clear, crisp air and clenching and unclenching his fists in frustration.
He was sick of waiting around, he had to do something, to get out of here and go after Loki and finish the job he should have taken care of months ago.
A soft touch on his shoulder made him spin around to Natasha's concerned face.
"Clint?"
"We have to go back Natasha, we have to fight. I can't sit around here anymore, playing house and waiting for everything to be okay, because it may never be. But we can go after Loki and make things a little bit better. Don't you think? Don't you want to get out there and finish this?"
She exhaled sharply and closed her eyes and Clint began to regret his quick behavior just a little bit and was on the verge of apologizing and heading back inside when she snapped them open and with a calm, clear face said, "I thought you would never ask."
He breathed a enormous sigh of release and grabbed her shoulders, kissing her forehead and pulling her into the house. "Let's call Stark."
A quick ring to the tower and Jarvis connected them to Tony, who, luckily, was tinkering in the lab with Bruce. Their surprised faces crowded the screen as they looked at Clint and Natasha.
"Well, look who finally decided to reconnect to reality." Tony smarmily greeted them, "So, what have you crazy kids been up to?"
"Nice to see you, too, Stark." Clint quipped back, his mouth curling up in a smile, "How is it out there in the real world?"
"Heating up," Tony replied, "You guys checked in just at the right time."
"Clue us in," Natasha broke in, "We're ready."
"Are you sure you're okay?" Bruce's voice broke in softly, before Tony could go on, his face was lined with concerned.
Natasha gave a small nod but Clint sensed her body tense up. "We need to do this." She stated firmly.
Bruce and Tony exchanged looks and Tony shrugged and began to fill them in.
"I've been using SHIELD's locating technology to find any facial matches but so far we've only had a few partials. However, one of these was in an area of West Texas where one of our field offices has been reporting heavier than normal truck traffic in a really sparsely populated area. Its actually kind of perfect for someone to set up an undercover operation: well maintained roads, dry conditions, mountainous areas and a local population that looks down on any kind of government intrusion."
"Got any unusual heat signatures coming out of there? Maybe showing some kind of weapon building?" Clint asked, pulling up a map of West Texas on his other computer screen and zooming in on some of the areas Tony had sent him coordinates to.
"Nope," Tony shook his head, "We're really just flying on a wing and a prayer, but, its more than we've had the last couple of weeks so, if you guys are up to it, its worth taking a look at."
"We can be there by morning." Clint replied, "Thanks for the vehicle loan by the way."
Tony dismissed his gratitude with a wave of his hand, "Don't worry, I've got…hundreds." Natasha rolled her eyes. Tony clapped his hands together in glee. "You guys really created quite the warzone around here, the Council is going ballistic over you two, they ordered a search to begin on you guys pretty much the minute you left. Fury's been going batshit arguing with them but they started a global search anyway."
Clint thought about his stop at the gas stations and all the times they had gone into town, the grocery store may have been quaint but he knew they had to have some kind of security system, he was sure he had stared right at it. How had SHIELD missed them?
"Too bad someone corrupted your files and changed a few key features the system was searching for." Tony said casually and Clint grinned, as much as he was a pain in the ass, his Iron friend had definitely come in handy for them. "We've all, Fury included, been kind of regulated to desk duty until this issue is resolved but Bruce and I have got our own little R and D lab right here in my tower so we've just been kind of tinkering on, oh you know, pocket size ballistic missile launchers and the like."
"I doubt SHIELD would just let us walk right in and then back out to find Loki," Clint mused, eager to get his hands on whatever Tony and Bruce had cooked up, "We should probably meet you guys at the Stark tower LA."
"See you soon Legolas." The screen clicked black.
"Come on, let's start packing," Natasha said, rushing out of the room.
"Wait," Clint grabbed her arm, spinning her around and pulled her close to him. "Wait, just wait."
He placed his hands on her face, his calloused fingers rubbing over her smooth skin, digits clawing into her curls as he lowered his face to hers, stopping right before their lips met, ghosting her with his touch, breathing in her scent. He kept his eyes open and studied her, trying to memorize every freckle, every hair, the pink flush at the top of her cheeks and the blush red of her lips. If he wasn't going to be himself, he wanted to drink in this moment for as long as he could.
"Clint?" she cocked her head, giving him a confused look.
"Shh," he breathed quietly, "I just…I just need to.." He couldn't form the words to tell her, he didn't really know how to explain himself. He just needed to be here, with her, occupying this space together, for as long as they could before they had to go back out into the storm again. They had fought a war in New York, taken on a new kind of enemy, something they hadn't ever been prepared for but now they were heading to take on something that felt all too familiar for both of them.
Revenge.
They had trained for this, Clint felt like he had been preparing for this all his life, but they both knew the stakes of this mission, they were going all in and it could mean the end for both of them.
So he had to stay with her, in this moment, holding still and breathing the same air and trying to commit every part of her to memory because this could be the last time, because everything was moving so fast and he knew the next few hours would rush by and he just wanted to hold still with her for just a little while longer.
She pushed her lips to his and all his thoughts fell away. They kissed like it was the last time because both of them knew it could be the last time and when she wrapped her legs around him, he carried her to the bedroom and made love to her, slowly at first but becoming frantic at the end, the passion almost overwhelmed both of them and all they could do for some time after was lay there together, breathing hard, and daring each other to be the first one to move.
They finally got up, together, and showered as they prepared to wage back into the battle, neither one speaking, but both feeling comfortable in the silence.
And when it was time to leave, Clint locked the door of the cabin and they both walked to the car, neither one looking back.
Thanks for keeping up with this - hopefully I'll have more time to finish!
On a side note, I read a lot of Clintasha fiction and I think that escaping to a cabin is pretty much canon, don't you think? It's what I would do!