this chapter is so late i'm sorry! :( life has been crazy but anyway, i know this chapter kinda throws off the real mcu timeline with the whole super soldier thing but it is au!
there's only 10 chapters left after this one, so things are gonna all resolve soon! there's some non-graphic actiony stuff in this chapter - i hope you enjoy it, and thank you so much for all of your support! i can't wait to finish this fic and start the sequel!
"Are you sure she's actually gonna show?"
Even from where he was sitting at the other end of the room, Clint could see Natasha's eye roll at his teasing question. He smiled to himself, hiding it behind his hand and pushing his face further into his book until she disappeared from view. He liked the lazy student cover she had assigned him; he had spent the better part of the afternoon napping, whilst Natasha and Chase kept an eye on things.
Chase was on his laptop, trying to discreetly watch the security footage from the labs. "Are you sure she doesn't know we're already here?"
Natasha huffed in Clint's ear, as loud as if she were sitting right beside him. "Of course she know we are here. I am waiting for her to come."
Clint could just imagine the look on Chase's face as he realised that Natasha's plan was a little different to his. They knew that Yelena hadn't been able to access the files the first time she had visited Culver University, and Natasha had been adamant that she would be back. Ever since they had left Iowa last week she had been leaving a subtle trail, hoping Yelena would realise that they were coming to find her.
For whatever reason, Natasha believed that Yelena was like her; not brainwashed to the point where she couldn't form her own thoughts, or make her own decisions. She hadn't really said much, but Clint could tell that she hoped the younger girl would help them tear down the Red Room and end the torture once and for all.
They had flown back to Brooklyn after Iowa, checking Lucky in to his usual kennel before bouncing around a couple of other states to make it harder for them to be followed by anyone that wasn't Red Room trained. The three of them had agreed that letting the Red Room get their hands on something like the Super Soldier serum would only lead to pain, both for a new generation of Black Widows and whoever their targets were. It was just a matter now of stopping Yelena, or getting the documents before she could.
The door of the library opened, and Clint discreetly peeked around his book to see if Yelena was finally gracing them with her presence. He sighed when he realised it was just another student, and sat back on his chair until he was balanced on two legs. Waiting was boring.
Clint had to admit he was a little nervous, but only because they didn't really know exactly what they were up against. Chase had been trying to follow Red Room leads for a little while now, and Yelena was the only one who had actually cropped up on his radar. They had thought that she was working on an operation Chase had briefly stumbled across, and now they weren't sure if she was actually doing it all of her own volition.
It was their second day at the university, and Clint was almost glad he had never graduated. They didn't attend classes, and spent most of their time walking between rooms and pretending to study, but it was annoying having to pretend to be a student when he couldn't even remember the last thing he had learnt in school.
He glanced over as he saw movement by the door again, and watched as Natasha packed up her things and suddenly left the room. His chair legs hit the floor with a thunk again, drawing unwanted attention to himself as he scrambled to follow her. He hadn't noticed Yelena, but that didn't mean that the girl had tried to sneak past them.
Chase hadn't noticed Natasha's departure in time, and Clint shot him a look as he passed him. The older man seemed just as confused as Clint was, but he wasn't about to stop and find out his thoughts on the whole ordeal. He needed to find Natasha before she became lost in the maze of hallways that made up the university.
"Tash!" he called, jogging after her.
She looked over her shoulder at him, face pulled into a scowl at the volume of his voice, and he immediately slowed down a little, closing the distance between them with a few big strides.
"What're you doing?" he hissed, matching the fast pace she had set.
"She annoy me," Natasha muttered. "Where she is?"
"I dunno," Clint said. "You were the one who told us she would come."
"She should be," Natasha snapped. "I don't know."
Clint grabbed Natasha by the elbow and swung them into the next door they came across, ignoring her grunt of protest. They weren't going to get anywhere if they only banked on Yelena showing up; Clint just wanted to try and get the serum, or ideally, destroy it, and they didn't need another Russian assassin to help them do that.
He opened his mouth to speak when he suddenly realised that they weren't the only two in the room.
"This is awkward," Yelena said.
Natasha dropped her decoy textbooks to the ground, instead moving around him so she could slam Yelena against the wall. Clint immediately reached for his bow, fingers grasping empty air as he remembered that it was still tucked securely in the backpack he had left in the library. He silently cursed, feeling panic bubble in his chest.
"What you are doing?" Natasha demanded, forearm pressed against the younger girl's throat.
"I steal, obviously," Yelena croaked. She tilted her head to the left, and Clint followed the trajectory to find a body on the ground, lying in a pool of blood.
"What did he do?" Clint sneered. He wasn't comfortable being around Yelena without his bow, regardless of what Natasha thought of her.
"You are still with him?" Yelena asked.
Natasha let her go, surveying the body with disinterest. "He is my partner."
Clint didn't know if she was talking about them being a team together or if she was implying their relationship, but it still made his heart swell to hear her say it. Yelena glanced between the two of them, one eyebrow raised in surprise.
"Good for you Natalia," she said.
"Shouldn't you have the door locked?" Clint said. "You know, in case someone else just walks in?"
"I am leaving," Yelena said, moving to step around him, but he planted himself firmly and stared her down. "What he is doing?"
"What you are doing?" Natasha countered.
Yelena huffed. "I want serum. I want to destroy. I know what they are plan."
"To use on girls?" Natasha said. Her eyes flickered over to Clint and he gave her a reassuring smile. "We want to destroy too."
"Great!" Yelena said sarcastically. "We are team now. Let's go."
"How do we know you're not gonna stab us in the back the second we help you get it?" Clint blurted. "Sorry, but this is all a little too coincidental."
Clint didn't even know what room they were standing in, or who the person that Yelena had killed was. There were a few computers in the room, but other than that there was nothing to suggest that this was the place where they had been trying to replicate the serum.
Yelena moved even closer to him, until they were standing toe-to-toe. She pulled up the sleeve of her shirt and pointed at a pink scar, about as long as one of Clint's arrowheads. It was a little wonky, but he understood what she was trying to tell him.
Natasha peeked at it over his shoulder. "How you know?"
"After you kill Ivan they send me," Yelena murmured. "I follow car until I see is not you. Is just… trick. You are smarter than me. Then after you destroy academy, I go back and they… are not happy you are gone again. So I run."
"Is not that easy," Natasha challenged.
"No," Yelena agreed. "I think you know."
"Clint cut mine," Natasha admitted.
Something flickered over Yelena's face before she pulled her features into a perfect blank mask again. "We need to go."
"Still never told us what he did," Clint muttered as he followed the two girls out of the room. He didn't know how long they would have until someone found the body, or if Yelena was even telling the truth about everything. Just because she had removed her own tracker didn't mean she wasn't still working for the Red Room.
"I try to get formula from computer in lab," Yelena said as they walked briskly down the hall. "Is hard though."
"He is smart scientist," Natasha deadpanned. "You are taught hacking by man who only shower one time in month."
Yelena turned to Natasha, frowning. "He teach you too!"
Natasha rolled her eyes, and Clint couldn't help but notice how much they acted like sisters, even if the situation they had found each other in was horrendous. He couldn't believe that the just a few short years ago Natasha had hated Yelena, though now he couldn't be sure if she had just been pretending.
"What's the game plan then?" Clint asked, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. He wanted to believe Yelena because he believed Natasha, but the whole thing just seemed off to him. Even Chase finding the Red Room mission when he did seemed too coincidental.
"We see if limited hacking skills are enough this time," Yelena said. "You really are partner with him?"
"Da," Natasha replied, and Clint could detect a slight irritation in her tone. "He is best friend. My best friend."
"Ty potselovala yego?" Yelena asked, and Clint rolled his eyes.
"I can speak Russian too, ya know."
Neither girl replied, though Natasha snuck him a tiny smile as they rounded the corner and continued out of the building towards the labs. Clint vaguely wondered where Chase was, and hoped that he had the good sense to grab Clint's backpack too before making his way to the lab. The plan had always been to meet there; they needed Chase if they wanted to access the documents, since everything was so protected.
Chase had told them that Doctor Banner's attempt had been unsuccessful, and that something had gone so wrong that the government had tried to cover the whole thing up. The documents were apparently still stored at the university, hiding in plain sight.
The courtyard was eerily empty. Clint kept his eyes on the tops of the buildings, trusting that Natasha and Yelena would alert him to anything on the ground. He needed his bow, if only to reassure him. He needed Chase too, so they could just hurry up and get out of Virginia.
He saw the glint from the rifle a second before the red dot appeared on Yelena's head; he leapt for her, a shout pulling itself from his lips without him really knowing what he was trying to say. He prayed Natasha would duck, prayed she would have the good sense to get out of the way as him and Yelena crashed to the ground as the sound of the shot rang out.
Everything went to hell after that.
Clint scrambled across the pavement, dragging Yelena by her arm as they took cover beneath an awning. Natasha was still out in the open, but she had her gun drawn and was crouched behind a flower bed, and Clint trusted that she would be able to keep herself safe for the time being.
He turned to Yelena, panic and anger flashing hot through his veins. "Is this a set up?"
"No!" Yelena snapped, pulling out her own gun.
"Is this a set up?" Clint repeated, fingers digging into her bicep. "Did you know about this?"
"No!" Yelena said again. "I do not know. They want me dead too."
They sat glaring at each other, both of them breathing heavily. Clint looked over her face, trying to find any hints that she was lying, but she was as good as Natasha and gave nothing away. If anything, there was panic swimming in her eyes, too.
"I need a weapon," Clint told her, and accepted the second gun she handed him. It wasn't his weapon of choice, but he could make do until they found Chase.
Yelena watched as Natasha fired at someone out of their line of sight, and then darted across to join her at the flowerbed. After a second, Clint followed, not looking anywhere around him until he was squished in beside them. He poked his head up just slightly, only seeing one body between them and the labs.
Natasha elbowed him so she could sign. There's still one on the roof. We need to take her out before we get inside. There will be more coming.
Red Room girls? Clint asked, cursing silently as Natasha nodded grimly. He didn't want to kill them if they were just brainwashed kids, but he also knew that if it came down to it, they wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet in him.
She won't come down unless we give her a reason to, Natasha signed, and then to his horror, vaulted over the flower bed and started sprinting towards the lab.
"Shit," he said, about to stand to follow her when Yelena yanked on his wrist to stop him. "Hey, cut it out!"
"She is distraction," Yelena said. "Girl knows that. She comes for us now."
"That makes no sense," Clint muttered. "If she knows Nat is the distraction then why would she come for us?"
"She think we come for her," Yelena said, then stood up fluidly and fired a single shot.
Clint turned around to watch the girl fall from where she had been climbing down the pipe on the side of the building. She hit the ground and stayed there, and the courtyard suddenly seemed impossibly still and quiet. He touched his hearing aids out of habit, even though he knew they were working.
Yelena walked over to the girl, kicking her gun away. "Katya. Hmm."
"You knew her?" Clint asked carefully.
"Yes," Yelena said sharply. "I don't forget."
Suddenly, Yelena looked much younger. Clint wanted to say something but he didn't think anything could make up for what she had experienced in her short life.
"Do you remember everything?" he said instead.
Yelena pushed her fringe out of her face and began to walk towards the lab. Clint hurried to follow her, not wanting to miss out on hearing her answer, if she actually gave him one. Despite his original dislike for her, there was something about Yelena that was making him warm up to her.
"Yes," she admitted eventually. She peered down at the second body, another girl who looked far too young to be where she was. "They take away parents, all things from before. I remember everything from then to now. Natalia is… only one who loses more."
Clint swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, thankful for her honesty. It hurt him to know that Natasha had been the only one who had had her memory used against her, but he reminded himself that she wasn't there anymore. They were okay.
They didn't say anything else as they finally entered the lab, and Clint felt relief sweep over him to see Natasha with Chase and his backpack. He thrust the gun back at Yelena and went straight to the bag, pulling out his bow and unfolding it in a second. There were some arrows shoved in there too, plus a collapsible quiver that Chase had found somewhere. Clint hadn't asked; he had just been grateful for the gift.
Yelena rolled her eyes. "Is medieval."
"Hey! That's the assassin we're looking for!" Chase yelped, trying to cover the computer screen with his hand. "Someone shoot her or arrest or her or whatever the hell you do."
"She is fine," Natasha told him. "Now hurry. We have little time."
She turned to face Clint, leaning one hip against the lab table, and quirked her lips slightly. He wanted to sweep her into a hug, or kiss her brains out, he couldn't decide. There was still so much adrenaline pumping through his system that he felt like running a marathon.
You okay? He signed.
Yes. I almost expected there to be a little more resistance, she replied. There was a mischievous glint in her eye that Clint hadn't seen for some time, and it briefly settled his nerves. Once this is all over, we're not leaving bed for a month.
I'm happy with that, Clint said, grinning like an idiot. Kinda wanna kiss you right now.
Yelena glanced between the two of them, eyebrow raised. Natasha just smirked, and Clint didn't know if he was reading too much into her expression, but he thought he saw the hint of a challenge on her lips.
"You get used to it," Chase muttered without taking his eyes off the screen. "Are you guys gonna kidnap her too? I will be setting some ground rules if you are."
"They can try," Yelena snorted.
"We are just helping," Natasha said. "She only come if she want to."
Whatever Yelena had been about to say was lost as a door at the other end of the room suddenly exploded, taking out half the wall with it. The four of them dropped to the ground, plaster and debris falling steadily around them, and Clint realised too late that they had let their guard down.
His ears ached from the noise, and for a minute or two it was all he could hear. His sense of balance was off, the world tilting around him. He felt a hand on his arm and turned to see Chase beside him, weapon-less and scared. Natasha and Yelena were nowhere to be seen, and Clint felt panic rise in his throat.
"Get out," Clint coughed, feeling the dust settle in his lungs. The sounds of the world came back to him in a rush, just in time for him to hear a gunshot from somewhere behind him. "You gotta run, get outta here."
Chase scrambled across the floor and Clint stood, fumbling for a minute with an arrow before his nerves settled and everything cleared. He could see Yelena now, in the middle of the room, fighting hand to hand with another Red Room operative. He aimed and fired without thinking, not even waiting to see the girl fall before he was looking for Natasha amongst the rubble.
He didn't even know how many other operatives there were in the room; everything was hazy, like looking through a thick fog, and he still couldn't believe that they had not been more careful after what happened in the courtyard. He felt stupid and was so annoyed at himself, sure that he should have known this was going to happen. Now they were here, in another bad situation that could have been avoided.
Clint heard another shot and turned around in time to see Natasha drop to the floor. His whole body turned to ice, heart freezing in his chest as the world around him slowed down. Before he even fully realised it he was letting an arrow fly towards the girl who had fired the shot, and then he stepped forward, watching through blurry eyes as Natasha started to shuffle across the ground. The realisation of what had really happened hit him like a tonne of bricks.
Natasha hadn't been hit. It was Chase.
