Nightmares 2003

Being an assassin, nightmares were not an uncommon occurrence and after the way Natasha grew up and how she lived, hers were even more messed up than others. On the three year anniversary of her being brought into SHIELD found Natasha awake at 1 a.m down in one of the basic training rooms beating on a heavy bag, trying to keep her demons at bay. Despite the fact that working for SHIELD required a lot less killing of innocent people than the Red Room had there were still the odd mission that threw her for a loop that caused memories from her childhood to resurface and haunt her day and nights. She and Barton had recently gotten back from a mission in Romania tracking down a human trafficker by the name of Andrei, who specialized in children, specifically orphans (no one to miss them when they disappear). After two months of watching, tracking, gathering Intel for Fury and slowly dismantling the lower levels of his operation they were finally given the green light to take him out. The plan was to take him out when he was on his way to the nearest orphanage before he could take any more children, but they hadn't planned for what he had in play. They took him out quick and simple (arrows through the throat and eye socket) and as they finished hauling his body into the trunk of the car they had acquired and started back to their safe house, the orphanage exploded in a blaze of fire. The two assassins turned back in the attempt to save the children but the second blast sent their car spinning into the side of a building near-by and they knew it was too late.

When they returned to SHIELD, Coulson filled them in on what the clean-up crew had learned. They had posed as officials from the government telling locals it had been a gas pipe explosion that had caused the tragedy but in reality it had be planned. It turned out that Andrei had rigged the place to blow once he took the remaining children so as to cover his tracks giving the illusion that they had all died in the fires when in reality they would had been shipped off to numerous countries around the world for, in her opinion, worse fates.

It was almost 3:00 a.m when she was broken out of her thoughts to Barton walking in and taking up position at the firing range. Neither of them spoke or acknowledged the other until Natasha finally running out of energy slumped to the ground leaning against the wall and just staring at her partner letting arrows fly. After a while he stopped and slide down onto the floor next to her and they both stared at the opposite side of the gym.

"After my parents died my brother and I were put in an orphanage. We spend 4 years waiting to be taken home by some 'loving' family and live our happily ever after's," he snorted but continued "after that place we ended up running away and joining this travelling circus that had stopped in town." Natasha's head slowly turned to look at him, a mixture of emotions crossed her face. Surprise at the fact that he was telling her something so personal, sadness that now she knew they had both suffered loss and heartbreak at such young ages and finally in slight amusement at the knowledge she was partnered with an ex-carnie. "I was the same age as those kids who were being sold off."

"I don't remember my parents." Natasha started, still looking at him, he had shared something personal so she decided that if she could trust him to have her back in the field, and she could trust him with some of her past as well. "I just remember the fire burning and being taken to the Red Room by Ivan. Those kids were being taken and used by someone they probably thought was there to save them and didn't realize it until it was too late. And I know how that feels because I was them once." When she paused she realized that he had put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed it is reassurance.

"How old were you?"

"Four."

Neither one of them spoke after that, they just sat there in silence taking comfort in the fact that they had finally found someone who could understand the other like no one else could. They both had their demons and it wouldn't be long before they would be helping each other after their nightmares. These nights would turn into the sharing of stories from their equally messed up pasts.

And that's how Coulson found them in the morning when he came looking for them for the debrief for their next mission. They were still leaning against the gym wall but now slumped against each other with his arm still around her shoulders, her leaning into his side, both fast asleep.