A/N: I missed this story! Finally feeling good about having time to write! Hope you guys like this chapter
Forgiveness
"You are enjoying this WAY too much, Kate." Wanda narrowed her eyes as she blocked yet another one of Kates arrows from hitting her.
Kate simply laughed as she lined up another shot.
"Good job, Wanda." Natasha called out down the shooting range. "Kate pick up the pace a little bit."
"Why couldn't I go with Steve for a run? He took Peter!" Pietro whined out.
"I told you." Natasha looked at him seriously "You haven't practiced with throwing knives in weeks. You need to brush up."
Pietro pouted before turning and resuming throwing knives at his target.
Kate lowered her bow and turned to look at Natasha "Nat. What's the harm in letting him go for a run? He could still catch up with Steve and Peter."
Natasha looked Kate in the eye before speaking in a level tone. "We are doing target practice until lunch."
Kate scrunched her nose in confusion before turning to face Wanda again "Alright."
"Agent Romanoff, Sir has finished with Agent Barton and Agent Barton wished for me to inform you that he has begun preparing lunch." JARVIS sounded off overhead.
"Alright, JARVIS. Let him know that we will wrap up down here and head up in 10 minutes." Natasha responded without looking up.
"What was Tony doing with Clint anyway?" Kate said as she shot arrow after arrow at Wanda.
"Tony finally finished the hearing aides he designed for him." Natasha said "He wanted to fine tune them."
"So, Clint should be able to hear?" Wanda asked as she continued to block each and every arrow that came her way.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he hears better than he did before the incident." Natasha snorted "If Tony is good at anything, it's making tech."
Later that evening
"What's the occasion, Legolas?" Tony asked, looking at the spread of food that Clint had prepared for dinner.
"You guys have all been pretty great the last few weeks, while I, uh, adjust to deafness."Clint rubbed the back of his neck "I also wanted to thank you guys for saving my ass."
"You don't need to thank us. We all have each others backs." Steve smiled warmly at Clint.
Natasha snorted loudly.
Sharon shot a sharp look towards Natasha, but remained silent.
Clint looked between Natasha and Sharon, confusion obvious on his face before looking at Steve "Thanks, Cap."
"Anyways…" Daisy said awkwardly as she turned to look at Wanda and Pietro "How was training today?"
"It was good!" Wanda smiled "I think I'm comfortable with stopping arrows now."
"She even let me throw a few knives at her." Pietro grinned.
"Nat, can you please pass the potatoes?" Steve intruded politely, pointing at the casserole dish of scalloped potatoes that sat to Natashas right.
Natasha ignored him as she continued push food around on her plate.
Clint yet again looked at Natasha with confusion as he grabbed the potatoes and passed them across the table to Steve.
"Thanks, Clint." Steve smiled weakly.
"I don't think I'm very hungry." Natasha said suddenly as she stood up.
"Nat. Nat!" Clint tried to call out to her retreating form.
"I should…" Steve began getting up, before Sharon placed a hand on his arm shaking her head slightly.
"I've got this." Sharon said with a sigh as she stood. She was quick to follow Natasha into the kitchen.
"What are you doing?" Sharon asked simply.
"The dishes." Natasha said dumbly as she began washing the many dirty pots and pans.
Sharon shook her head. "Nat, Steve is your friend. Why are you doing this to him?"
Natasha paused and turned to look at her "Look at what he let happen to Clint. He nearly 's deaf, Sharon! All because Steve didn't have his back."
"And he feels awful about it!" Sharon scoffed "He has been beating himself up about it daily! And your behavior has done nothing to help."
Natasha snorted "Sorry that Steves feelings haven't been my focus."
Sharon shook her head. "You know what you've been doing, Natasha. You know. And quite frankly, it's beneath you."
Natasha narrowed her eyes at Sharon before turning again and resumed doing the dishes.
Sharon simply sighed as she shook her head. "I really hope you can forgive him."
And with that Sharon walked out of the kitchen and back towards the dining room.
It was only moments later that Clint walked into the kitchen.
"Nat?" He said softly as he placed a hand on her shoulder.
Natasha sighed as she leaned her head against his arm.
"Why are you mad at Steve?" Clint asked quietly as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
Natasha turned her head to look up at him "They nearly killed you. Steve was supposed to have your back…" she looked away as she gripped onto his forearms "and they nearly killed you. They took your hearing. How can I be ok with that?"
Clint smiled as he shook his head "Tasha...what happened to me… its not Steve's fault. Not in the slightest. It was all Barney. And if anyone else could possibly be blamed… the blame should be placed on me for agreeing to meet with my brother who has been murder-y towards me since I was 15."
"I almost lost you…" Natasha whispered.
"I know." Clint said quietly. "But, Tasha, please do not let almost losing me be the reason you drive a good friend away."
Natasha doesn't know exactly when she started crying, but when she tilted her head up in order to look at him again, he reached up and softly wiped the tears from cheeks before kissing her tenderly.
"You coming back to dinner with me?" Clint said softly.
Natasha shook her head as she curled her arms tighter around his.
Clint kissed her temple "You want me to stay with you?"
Natasha sighed as she eased up her grip on him. "No… I'll keep doing the dishes… and then I'll…I'll have JARVIS tell me where Steve is. And I'll talk to him."
"Ok. Tell JARVIS if you need me." Clint spoke softly and firmly as he removed his arms from around her.
Natasha simply nodded in response as she took the sponge back in her hand and turned the water back on.
Clint was quiet as he walked out of the kitchen.
45 minutes later
"JARVIS... where's Steve?" Natasha said as she dried her hands.
"Captain Rogers is in the shooting range with Miss Carter." JARVIS responded.
Natasha nodded as she set the towel down and head out of the kitchen and towards the elevator.
Once in the elevator she looked up and spoke once more. "Can you take me to the training floor JARVIS?"
No response came from the AI as the elevator began to descend.
Steve and Sharon were together in a single range, taking turns shooting at the interactive targets.
Natasha was silent as she approached the range. She watched the two of them shoot for only a moment before alerting them to her presence.
"Can I talk to you, Steve?" She asked. Steve and Sharon both whipped around to stare at her.
"Nat. Sure!" Steve replied quickly as he set down the gun he was holding.
Sharon pressed her lips together as she looked between the two of them. "I'll give you guys the floor."
Steve and Natasha both folded their arms and remained silent as they watched Sharon leave the floor.
Natasha was the first to speak "I owe you an apology."
"No," Steve shook his head "No, you don't, Nat."
"Yes." Natasha said firmly. "I do. I was unfair. To say the least."
"If I had been… more… on top of things... if I had paid closer attention… Clint… he would have… never been taken by his brother. He would still have his hearing." Steve looked at the floor as he squeezed his hands into fists.
Natasha stepped so she was closer to Steve and placed a hand on his arm. When he looked up, she looked him in the eye and gave him a small smile.
"You did the best you could. I can see that now…" Natasha spoke softly. "Forgive me?"
"Without a doubt." Steve said firmly
A/N: don't forget to review!
