Chapter 1
She's sitting on the stairs when he finds her. There's a stabbing pain in his chest when he finds her. Looking straight ahead, completely in trance. Her bright green eyes, usually shining with determination and strength, are now empty and hollow. Her breathing is shallow and fast, she's trembling and pale.
'Nat?' Clint asks gently. For a split second her eyes fall on his. 'What happened?' He waits for an answer that doesn't come. The moment he started talking to her tears started gathering in her eyes. He holds her face in his hands in order to make some kind of contact. To find out what is haunting her mind.
'Natasha, I could really use a lullaby', Tony Starks suddenly asks over their radio. Again, nothing happens. The hunted, terrified look in her eyes don't seem to waver for a second. Clint realises he has to get her out of here since she isn't capable of doing it herself. Not when she's like this.
'Yeah, that's not gonna happen', Clint lifts her arm around his neck, determent to get her to a safe place, 'not for a while'. He stands up with her. As soon as he does she doubles over and throws up violently. In the years he's known her, he has never seen Natasha Romanoff like this. He would have never imagined seeing her so fragile and broken. The pain she's feeling radiating from every fiber of her body.
'I've got you, Nat', he whispers as he holds her up while she's still dry heaving, 'take it easy, okay'. When there's nothing left to throw up, her legs give out. Clint catches her and gently sets her back down on the stairs. Finally, Natasha looks at him.
'What happened?', he asks again, 'what did that girl do to you?', his thumb strokes her cheek gently.
'I was back there', she whispers barely audible. He knows her too well to not know what there means. There are tears gathering in her eyes again. For a couple of minutes neither of them speak, just look each other in the eye. That's all the conversation they need right now. Her eyes screaming with the pain she's feeling, the horror she's reliving right now and the sadness she's so desperate to keep to herself. His eyes trying to give her some reassurance, a moment of safety and love she so desperately needs.
'Let's get you outta here, okay', he says softly, 'I'll get you out of here'. He waits for her to nod a little. Again he helps her up. She rests most of her weight on him and he pulls her a bit closer to him. 'I'll take you home', he whispers in her ear before he rests his forehead against the side of her head. Because he's so close, he can hear the soft whimper coming from her.
They finally make it to the quinjet first. Clint sits Natasha down on one of the chairs.
'Is there anything you need', he asks, knowing that as soon as the other members of the team get to the jet, she'll not want to show any weakness. She only shakes her head, her eyes water again. He kisses the side of her head softly.
'We'll talk later, okay', he whispers as the other members of the team make it to the jet. As soon as Clint lays eyes on the rest, he knows Nat's the only one who was affected by the Maximoff twins. The team looks broken. Their faces clearly showing the pain they're feeling. Clint knows he's the only one capable of flying the jet to a safe location. Internally he sighs a little, uncomfortable of leaving Natasha alone. He tries to find her eyes. Finally, after a few moments her eyes find his. They tell him everything he needs to know right now: "get me out of here". There's a small nod and a soft squeeze in her arm and then he walks towards the pilot seat. Starting the jet and sets the satellite navigation to the one place he can think of: home.