I'm so sorry for the delay, I was kind of busy. By the way, did you saw the Marvel panel at SDCC, it was great. Did someone have the chance to watch the footage? I'm dying to watch it. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter.

"Hey, come in" Clint said kindly and Natasha entered to the apartment.

"Did you know?" Natasha said as soon as he closed the door and Clint immediately noticed she was angry.

"What? What happened?" He asked confused.

"Did you know Alexei is alive?"

"Nat..."

"Don't." She said with red eyes giving a step back as he tried to come closer. "You knew he was alive"

"Yes, but I was trying to protect you..." Clint said.

"Protect me? I am grown enough to take care of myself." She said frustrated.

"Natasha I'm sorry…but when you arrived we weren't sure he was alive. All I knew was that there were inconsistent in the death."

"Yes, but after that you kept searching?"

"I wanted to track him before" Clint said to excuse himself. He knew that what he did was wrong.

"Oh god" She said crying. "That wasn't your choice to make!"

"Why are you like this?" He said angry.

"What... you lied to me, hide things about my husband and you want me to be like if nothing happened?"

"What would you have done if I told you about him from the beginning?" He said angrier.

"Wha...?"

"Would you have gone to find him?" He asked her. She turned her head. Both were so angry. "Do you still love him?"

"That's not of your business"

"Natasha...you're still in love with him"

"Why do you care?" She said looking right into his eyes.

"I..." was the only thing Barton was able to pronounce.

"Clint...why do you care so much about it?" She asked confused by Barton's words. Clint turned to the table beside and placed his hands on it. He stood there with his head down and his eyes closed for a few seconds thinking of his answer. Natasha kept looking at him waiting for him to speak.

"You're my best friend, I don't want him to hurt you more." Clint said. He wanted to tell her the truth, that he loves her more than anything but he just couldn't. He was so afraid she would refuse him; she meant everything to him and was not dispose to lose her.

"He's not the one who is hurting me right now." Natasha said.

"Nat, please" He tried once more to come near.

"I have to go. I can't be near you right now" She said cleaning her tears. She slammed the door. Clint stayed looking at the door before hitting with his fist the table.

"That was close" Mark said getting out of the room. Mark asked if he could stay in Clint's apartment for a while.

"Shut up" Clint said.

"Hey, sorry. Are you ok?" Mark said realizing that his friend looked horrible.

Natasha got out from the building and went to her apartment as fast as she could. She closed the door and crumbled at the door. She went to her closet and took a metal box out. She kneeled on the floor of the bedroom and opened it. The box had inside some photos; one of her parents. Another one was the photo of her wedding day. It was the traditional wedding photo; Natasha's dress was beautiful, it was a strapless tight with sleeves made of lace and a long fall that touched the floor. Her hair was on a very nice and complex ponytail. Alexei got married in his official suit. Both looked great. She was beautiful; he was handsome, both famous. What else could be missing for them?
Natasha kept looking at the photo while recalling memories of such a wedding.

Flashback (language: Russian)

"Natasha, honey?" Ivan's voice could be heard at the other side of the door.

"Yeah, I'm here. Come in" Natasha answered facing the mirror.

"Oh, you look gorgeous" Ivan said as he entered the room and saw Natasha.

"Thank you" Natasha said smiling.

"You're ready?" Ivan asked getting closer. Natasha nodded. "Let's go" Ivan said leading her to the church. It was a traditional Russian wedding. It lasted for two days.

At the civil ceremony...

"Alexei Alanovich Shostakov will you take Natalia as your wife?" The judge asked him.

"I do" He said putting the ring on Natasha's finger.

"And you, Natalia Alinovna Romanova, you take Alexei as your husband?"

"I do" Natasha said.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife" The judge finally said. The couple kissed and the guests were delighted.

End of flashback

As Natasha recalled the ceremony she found a necklace with the two wedding rings through it. Since Alexei died, Natasha wore them as a symbol of her grief. She wore them until the day she realized who she was, a mercenary. She stopped wearing the necklace because she thought of Alexei as such a good man that this kind of life that she had now could disgrace him. Tears kept falling from her eyes and she lied on the side of the bed. She couldn't believe what the Red Room did to her. How could they hide the truth of Alexei accident, why? Natasha was still holding the rings.

The next day Fury called both Barton and Romanoff.

"What is he doing here?" Natasha said as she watched Barton sat at the conference room.

"Natasha..." Clint tried to talk to her but she gave him such a hateful stare that he decided to stay quiet.

"He's here because he's the one who has taken care of the investigation. If you want to find him..."

"Yeah, I know...so what do I need to know Barton" She said looking at Clint.
Clint understood Natasha's tone. He wanted to say something but he also knew it only make things worse. He was only trying to protect her but he will accept his mistake and the punishment.

"After Alexei received the order to present at the base he was taken to a facility in Siberia where he was trained to become an agent for the Red Room. They call him the Red Guardian; he is like a Captain America but Russian."

"Like a Captain America" Natasha repeated "were there signs of brainwashing?" Natasha asked hoping an affirmative answer.

"There's nothing on the file that indicates so" Coulson said.

"He did this willingly" She said astonished. Maybe their story was not as romantic as others but he was still his husband. "Where is he now?"

"In Russia with the Red Room." Clint said.

"Are we going to find him?" Natasha asked.

"No, Romanoff you're too involve in this" Fury said.

"You think so? He was my husband, they fake his death and he agreed...I need to see him."

"Romanoff..." Fury tried to talk.

"Wait, listen. I know the Red Room, hoe does it work"

"Alright you wanna go, you go. But Barton goes with you." Fury decided.
Natasha looked at Clint with such anger even Fury felt awkward.

At night after the details of the mission were cleared, they took the flight that will take them to Russia along with the rest of the team.

Natasha was very serious through the entire trip looking at Clint with hatred eyes.

"I want you near me, you understand."

"Why? You fear that maybe I will go behind your back"

"You're angry, I get it. You may hate me right now but this is a mission and our lives are in danger. Fury put me in charge on this, like it or not you do what I say." He said firmly. Natasha was surprised by that answer.

"Yes, sir" she said sarcastically.

They landed on Kirov airport where Alexei was supposedly on a mission for the Red Room. The intelligence showed that he was staying on a 'safe house'.

"And how exactly do we have that information?" Natasha asked.

"We all have our contacts."

"Ha, so you have contacts that send you information about my husband."

"Alright, alright. For interesting this conversation may turn out you're getting closer to the direction" Coulson said through the ear piece. Fury and Hill were also communicated.

"Sir, are you sure we shouldn't have sent someone else there." Hill said to Fury.

"Relax, I have a plan" Fury stayed thinking. "They are already there." He finished and Hill looked not very convince but what could she do.

"We're here" Natasha said looking through the binoculars.

"Yes" Clint said. "Ok, I'll be right back" he said pushing a button on the door.

"What?" Natasha said but when she tried to unlock the seatbelt she couldn't. "Clint" she said fighting with the belt.

"I'm sorry Natasha" he said cuffing her hands. "I can't risk it."

"Barton! Son of a bitch!" She said, her face was red. "Fury!"

"Sorry Romanoff. You know we can't let you in there. Barton will bring him to the SHIELD quarter." Fury answered.

"Relax, agent Riley will come with others two agents and will take you back to the quarter" Clint said before getting out of the car.

"Barton! Hawkeye! Don't do this" she kept screaming but Clint ignored her.
As Clint said three agents came to the car and drove back to the quarter where Fury talked to her by video call. Natasha finally recognized that it was the best decision for the mission.

Barton along with the strike team entered and got Shostakov. They returned to the base. Shostakov was taken unconscious to the SHIELD secret facility with interrogation room and everything where Natasha was waiting.

"What happened?" She said as soon as Clint stepped at the door.

"He deserved it" Clint said. He looked exhausted. "You didn't hear from the comm?"

"No, it's not..." she began but regretted it. "You're going to interrogate him?"

"Yes." He said and then left.

"Alexei Alanovitch Shostakov, codename: Red Guardian" Clint started the interrogatory. Meanwhile Fury arrived to the place and he let Natasha watch the whole thing with him. "You have made yourself creditor of many issues with SHIELD" he continued sitting in front of him.

"SHIELD?" Alexei asked confused. "What do you want?"

"Why were you in that house?"

"I think you already know that"

"Alright, you were there to complete a mission. Now I want to hear it from you" Clint said. He looked very concentrated, very professional.

"He's not telling us anything." Barton said to Fury after a few minutes of studying him.

"Yeah, I know" Fury said.

"Let me in" Natasha said. "Let me talk to him."

"No. I already let you come and watch." Fury said and Natasha got up walking to the door frustrated.

"Look I know you don't trust me right now but I know how to do this. He will talk." Clint told Natasha. She didn't say anything and Barton got into the room again.

"Ok." He said and sat again. "You have a very interesting story." Clint said opening the file. "You appeared on 2005. We know the Red Room trained you. Before that you had a pretty good life. You were an important pilot and you were married to Natalia Romanova, ballet dancer."

Clint got no response from Alexei but he noticed a small reaction when he heard Natasha's name.

"You should be dead so...what happened?"

"That's not of your business"

"Hey! You're caught on a SHIELD facility; you're an agent of the Red Room. I could have killed you already." Clint said angrily. "You know what I think the Red Room proposed you to become a real soldier for the country. I think you couldn't care less for the people you left behind. Your mother, your wife all thinking you're dead and what for; to be an assassin, a puppet for an organization that have deals with terrorism." He started pushing him.

"Shut up, you know nothing of me!" Alexei shouted.

"What's wrong? You don't like to hear the truth. Look!" He said taking out some photos. "Your grave, your family, all thinking you were a hero." Alexei was sweating. "And then, in Moscow, Ukraine, Albania. You've been all over Eastern Europe." Alexei was stoned at Clint's words.

"You really think you were invisible. You should be the worst agent from the Red Room; you're a coward faking your death. Look at you; you're sweating like a pig." He began to humiliate him and Alexei was falling into his trap.

After a couple of hours of interrogation everyone was tired. Alexei was apparently cracking but he kept quiet, so they started torturing him. Alexei was 'resisting' the pain.

"Hey, we can keep going all night long." Clint said. Alexei was silent but suffering.
They kept doing it a few more minutes until they stopped.

"What's going on?" Alexei asked when the agents were taking off the wires and everything they were torturing him with.

"You won't tell us anything, right?...Well, you'll be taken to US where we will continue with the interrogation. But first..." Clint said and opened the door. "Hey Nat!" He called Natasha and before letting her in he told her "Fury agreed to let you talk to him. You have like half an hour while the plane gets ready."

Ok, who's excited to see the confrontation between Natasha and Alexei? I realize this was going to be a super long chapter so I divided in two. Please write your comments on what should happen between Alexei and Natasha. What do you think she will tell him?