The Road to Here

by f-romanoff-13

One day Clint was assigned a mission; 'Terminate the Black Widow' But when he sees Natalia Romanova; he can't do it. She starts having side affects and SHIELD discovers something they previously didn't know about the red room and their programming. It's a race against time for Clint, but with no one else willing to help he puts his life on the line to save her

10. Chapter 10

A week later Natasha had been moved to a cell; she was off the paralytic drugs and was permitted to only having her hands cuffed, it was the closest she'd ever had to having her own room.
Clint came to visit her every evening, always apologizing, bringing her food and the occasional book to pass her time.

The days were spent informing shield of everything she knew about the Red Room, their procedures, plans, missions and the people involved, she gave them weak points and flaws; any useful information they could use to bring the institution down.
Once they'd finished on that, she spilled every bit of information she knew on any potential threat to shield or the United States.
She'd proved her worth and the council had been forced to lift their death warrant; though they still didn't permit her to work for shield.

One evening during one of Clint's visits Natasha suddenly went lightheaded. Her vision faded in and out of focus and her words began to slur.

"Tasha? Natasha are you alright?"

She nodded, not wanting to cause a fuss; a quick lie down and she was sure she'd be fine.
Clint lingered that evening, staying off returning to his bunk to ensure she really was okay, which she wasn't; she was shivering and sweating. She wasn't making any sense and seemed to have lost all her energy; barely able to lift her head from her bed.

The shield doctors were called but seemed confused as to the cause

"Red Room, it has to be something to do with them!" Clint told Coulson as they watched her rapidly deteriorating

"But what?"

"I don't know. They had a trigger word which brought her down instantly; a failsafe incase she ran. What if this is like that? A failsafe; wipe out the traitors and deserters so they can't use their knowledge against them?"

"It's certainly plausible"

"It's the only explanation Coulson! We've been sharing foods, she's not been on any meds and Fury gave me his word this was nothing to do with him. I've been through all the security footage, no one has been in or out of that cell since Nat was put in there. This isn't a poisoning or a toxin, it must be something to do with her programming"

"If it is Red Room, then I doubt there's anything we can do"

"Oh don't give me that! We're not just going to sit on our ass' while she dies! Not after everything I went through to get her here, not after everything she's been through. We need to at least try! Please Phil, I need someone on my side"

"Clint, I'm always on your side, no matter how idiotic you are..."