Chapter 18

After a few minutes of yelling, followed by some banging around, and generally just trying to escape, Clint sat on the cold floor with his back pressed against the metal bars of the cell door. He cursed whoever had made the cells for being too good at their job. He wanted, no needed, to know what the hell was going on out there. He was pissed beyond belief that she would lock him in there like she had done. He swore to himself that when he saw her he was going to make her understand just how upset he was at her. A thought hit him then that if it was the Russians who had been sent then she could be hurt, or dead, somewhere at the moment. Though they hadn't known each other for much more than a week, the thought sent a shiver through his body. Clint also couldn't help the thought that if the Russians had hurt her in any way then it was his fault. He was the one who convinced her to come to SHEILD and therefore evoked their wrath. It was a ridiculous thought that it was his fault but he couldn't help it.

The sound of footsteps in the hallway had him quickly getting to his feet. Though there hadn't been any sounds of fighting since Natasha had left him there, he wasn't taking any chances. He knew that he was a sitting duck, there's not much you can do when locked in a cell with no way out, and that he would probably be killed. However, he was not going to die sitting on the floor if he could help it. He stood in a fighting stance out of habit and put a glare on his face as he waited for whoever it was to make their appearance. He felt his body slump in relief when he saw a SHEILD agent standing there. Agent Sean Pierce if he was correct. Pierce looked relieved to see him as well. The man stepped back out into the hallway and yelled.

"I've got him!" He rushed into the room and Clint pointed to where the keys laid in the empty cell. "Those Russian agents brought down a lot of our systems. Our comm units aren't working, a majority of the cameras are shut down, and we just managed to get agent Hill and a bunch of others out of the control room." He explained as he unlocked the door. "You ok?" He asked and Clint nodded.

"I've got an ex-Russian assassin to yell at but other than that I'm fine," he replied and agent Pierce looked at him.

"She locked you in there huh." Clint nodded and Pierce rubbed the back of his neck. "So she did know where you were." He said softly but Clint still heard him.

"What happened?" Clint asked with a no nonsense look in his eyes. Pierce let out a breath then proceeded to explain what had happened while Clint had been locked up. He cursed inwardly at the hell storm they all suddenly found themselves in.

Slowly she started to come to her senses. She kept her eyes closed and her body relaxed as she tried to take in everything she could about the area surrounding her. From the way her body moved, Natasha knew that they were in a vehicle of some sort. She could hear other people's breathing and judged that there was at least three other people with her. Metal cuffs were attached snuggly around her wrists in front of her and also around her ankles.

"Open your eyes Natalia," a man's voice snapped at her. Slowly she blinked her eyes open and looked at the people around her. Beside her was a man known to her as James Barnes or also known as the Winter Soldier. What surprised her though was the two men sitting in front of her. Both the director of SHEILD and agent Phil Coulson sat unconscious on the bench across from her. "Face your consequences with your eyes open." He said and she fought the urge to roll her eyes at him.

"I'm not afraid of you James," her voice was raspy from having just woken up.

"But you're afraid of him," he responded in a soft voice.

"Don't pretend that you're any different."

"I don't have to face his punishment," he snapped back at her. "Damn it do you even realize what you did Romanova?" She didn't respond and he huffed at her. "You know, for a moment, I thought you were just trying to be a big shot and take down SHEILD yourself." He shook his head at the thought then added "you should have known better." Things fell silent then. The only sound came from the sounds off the road as they continued to their destination. Natasha looked up at Coulson and Fury then turned back to James. If she wanted answers then he would probably be her best bet. She knew he was beyond angry with her but he was also always straight with her. In the past, when they worked together, she could always count on him to give her the information without sugarcoating anything.

"Why are they here?" She said after another moment of silence.

"He's the director of SHEILD," James said and glanced at her briefly before returning to staring at the wall. "Why wouldn't we take the opportunity to capture him?" She nodded at that reasoning because really it made sense. "The other one was just there at the moment," he continued and shrugged "why not?"

"What does he want with them?" Natasha asked and James shrugged again.

"You know perfectly well that he doesn't tell us everything," he replied.

"Why did you want him," she did not have to specify who she was talking about. James looked at her and she could see the deep anger in his eyes.

"I was ordered to find the man who led you astray and bring him in." He said, his words were laced with a dark undertone. "You know the policy for those who betray the Room." She looked away from him but he reached over and lifted her chin so that she was forced to look at him. "You don't even realize the shit you put yourself in do you?" She jerked her head away from him and he turned his head away. Not long after the vehicle came to a stop and she wondered just how long she had been unconscious. James got up and opened the back door. He climbed down and was about to shut it again but was stopped when Natasha spoke up again.

"I do know," he paused and looked up to where she sat. "I just can't bring myself to care." James looked at the ground and when he raised his eyes back up at her she saw a hint of sadness hidden behind the wall of anger.

"Then you're already dead Natalia." The door slammed shut harder than was necessary. When she finally brought herself to look back at the other two passengers sitting before her.

"Where are they taking us?" She glanced at Fury who was just starting to come around. He opened his eye and blinked a few times but kept his face blank as he stared back at her. She could see why that look annoyed Barton so much. She looked away from him and focused her eyes on the door of the truck they were currently trapped in. Her voice was cold and void of emotion when she finally responded.

"Home."

So, I wanted Natasha and her ex partner to have a little time to talk there. I'm wasn't really sure how to write these two characters together but I hope that you all enjoyed! Thanks to all those who reviewed/favorited/followed this story you guys are awesome! Now, I have closed the poll for who else should be paired with Natasha and the result is Tony Stark (this surprises me) Anyways neither my friend or I won the bet because he said it would be Bruce and I said, though I kind of agree with Tony, that based on popular vote I thought it would be Steve. So, I might write a story based on the two of them but I'm not sure yet. I'm still a Natasha and Clint fan all the way :)