Explaining things to Natasha was both simple and yet so uncomfortable. Because the last thing Spencer wanted to do was give away Clint's secrets. If the whole situation hadn't demanded she tell, Spencer would've done everything possible to help protect Clint and his wife. She would've kept the secret as long as he wanted her to. But they needed to be able to keep Laura safe. That was more important than keeping her secret.

With Clint, if Spencer had something sensitive to say she would take her time to tell him, probably stutter a few times as she tried to find the right words. With Natasha, it was quite a bit different. Natasha preferred the bluntness that Spencer did. She didn't want to beat around the bush when it came to something important. A strange trait for a spy. Then again, maybe not. Their whole lives were spent with tricks and lies and such; with one another should be one place they were free to just speak.

Because of that, Spencer didn't waste any time once they were back in the car and Natasha was sure they hadn't been bugged while inside.

"I apologize for making you wait to find anything out." Spencer said once they were heading down the road. She folded her hands in her lap, trying to hide the little tremor that was there, and she turned herself to watch Natasha's face while she spoke. "I've never met Laura Shirk before, but I know of her. She's Clint's wife." She saw the shock on Natasha's face and hurried on to try and answer her questions before she had to ask them. "Very few people know that he's married. He's kept their marriage a secret because of how dangerous our work is. If no one knows about her, no one can come after her. I picked up on her existence by accident not long ago."

Natasha was quiet for a few long moments. Spencer let her have them; this was something that needed processed. Eventually, a tiny measure of the tension in Natasha's frame drained away, and Spencer felt herself relax as well. "This is going to make our mission a bit more interesting." Natasha said.

"Quite. She has nothing to do with what's going on—I would've picked up something from her when she was in front of me. So, we at least have that. But that means she's at risk. Clint plans on slipping away at some point tonight to go and speak with her if he can find out where's she's staying. He wants to warn her to be safe. Our earlier points about the group she's involved in still stand..."

"I'll stand watch tonight, then."

There was no point in protesting that. Natasha wasn't asking-she was making a statement. She would keep watch while Clint was out tonight.

It would be a long night for all of them. But first, "We've got an afternoon at the hospital to get through first." Spencer pointed out, sighing. Once that was done, they could head back to the hotel and Spencer would let Natasha keep watch to her heart's content. No need to mention that she'd be up keeping watch as well, scanning the hotel with her powers to try and see if Clint stopped by or if he might try calling out for her. No one was going to be getting very much sleep that night.

The last part of that proved to be very true, but for entirely different reasons than Spencer had expected.

Their afternoon at the hospital had turned into evening, and was now apparently being turned into night as well. So far none of the doctors had been able to convince 'Erin' to stay overnight at the hospital. Not only did Spencer not want to, the idea of doing it and trying to keep herself medicated enough that they wouldn't notice her randomly getting better for small chunks of time, it just wasn't appealing.

However, when Laura asked her, Spencer found herself actually thinking about it for a bit before finally agreeing. It'd work out perfectly. She'd be here, safe and secure, able to listen in to people who might not be around during the day, and she'd be able to keep an eye on Laura the entire time the woman was here. Once she left here, Clint could watch her.

Natasha wasn't too fond of the plan. Mostly because it involved her going back to the hotel without Spencer. They couldn't argue it in front of people, though. The only real choice she had was to go along with it and trust that Spencer knew what she was doing staying here.

"You take care of yourself." Natasha said. She put her hand on Spencer's cheek, bending over her. The young genius was stretched out in the hospital bed, already tucked under blankets. It felt so strange to lie there as Natasha leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Call if you need me." The words were said soft and low, and in Russian, whispered right up against her skin. Then she was pulling back and pushing her hand up, brushing Spencer's hair back from her face. "I'll be back first thing in the morning, all right?"

Spencer put on her best shaky yet strong smile. "I'll hold you to that."

"Don't be a brat for them. Just, take it easy; let them take care of you."

"Yes, dear."

That earned her a smile that held a hint of realness to it. It also had Laura and the nurse with her smiling a little. "Smartass." Natasha mocked her.

"Pfft." Spencer blew out a breath, making sure to pack as much dismissiveness into the sound as she possibly could. "You love me."

"We all have our faults." Natasha said dryly. At Spencer's offended look, the woman chuckled lowly and started to move towards the door. "Remember, be good. I'll be back first thing in the morning."

There was a brief moment once the door shut behind Natasha where Spencer found herself just sitting there and staring at the closed door. Once, she'd gone on all her missions alone. She'd always been alone. But ever since she'd started going on missions for SHIELD, she'd had someone with her for all except the most private of missions. Being alone, without Clint or Natasha right there with her, it left her slightly unsettled. In turn, that made her annoyed with herself. Since when did she need to have someone there with her? She was fully capable of being alone!

A hand settled on Spencer's arm and she had to fight not to give in to instinct and grab hold of that hand and throw off the person stupid enough to touch her. It was an old instinct she'd mostly learned to push away. But with Natasha gone, all of Spencer's instincts, all her old habits, seemed to be pushing forward more than ever.

When she looked up she found Laura watching her with compassionate eyes. "I promise, there won't be any strange tests or anything tonight, Erin. Most of this visit is going to be simple observation, that's all."

Laura must've seen something of her discomfort with Natasha leaving and interpreted it as her being worried about being in a hospital alone.

The kindness she was showing and the emotions it was creating in her had Spencer smiling up at her. "It's fine, ma'am. Just been a while since I've stayed overnight in one of these places." She made a show of looking up and around the room. When she spoke again, her voice was softer. "I thought I was done with this."

"Hopefully doing this will put us one step closer to achieving that for you." Laura said.

Spencer was hooked up to a few standard machines as she lay there in the bed. Then, true to Laura's word, no strange tests were done. She was mostly left to her room to be observed through the machinery and the occasional nurse that came in. They brought her dinner, which timed almost perfectly when she needed to take her medication to keep herself sick. The hospital was well used to her delivering shots by now and they didn't even try and offer to do it for her. Spencer wasn't sure what Natasha had done to get them to agree to that but she wasn't going to argue it.

As she gave herself the shot that would continue to suppress her healing factor, she mentally grumbled to herself. Once this mission was done she was going to let all this clear out of her system. Then she was going to find herself a fight and let herself revel a little in a healthy body that wasn't going to tremble and break all the time.

After she had her medicine, she tried to eat. She'd been raised in the belief that no food should ever be wasted. You never knew when you were going to get more. So despite how it tasted, she still ate as much as she could from her food.

The fact that she spent the next twenty minutes throwing it back up was sadly unsurprising.

Hooked up to machines the way that she was, she hadn't been able to rush to the bathroom to throw up. That meant that she'd been stuck with an emesis bag and a nurse who really needed to stop trying to touch her.

"There we are." The woman said in heavily accented English. The hospital had made sure all her nursing staff spoke English. She rubbed a hand over Spencer's back and then took the bag away once it was obvious Spencer was done. She disposed of it quickly and then came over to check Spencer's vitals as well as a few other things. While Spencer had been throwing up, the woman had given her something. An antiemetic, it had looked like. Hopefully it would help some of the nausea. "Just lay back and rest, dear. Let the medicine do its work."

What else could Spencer do? She held back her sarcastic retorts and smiled instead. "Thank you, ma'am."

The woman smiled broadly. Most of the nursing staff seemed to like Spencer. "Oh, don't you worry about it, dear. Sleep now. It's what your body needs."

Sleep wasn't exactly what Spencer had planned for herself. Not while staying here, anyways. But she'd faked sleep many a time before. Using that skill now, she settled down into her bed and let herself feign sleep. Mostly, she turned her focus outwards, using her powers to scan all around her in the hopes she might pick up something. Anything that might give them another clue to work with. Much as Spencer wanted to take Dr. Totes and get answers from him, they had to wait until he'd reached out to his contact and got the samples brought out, otherwise they'd just have a bit of information and nothing more.

It took a few hours, and another round of medicine, before Spencer caught the first hint of something. Only, what she caught wasn't quite what she'd expected, and it was enough to make her blood run cold.

She caught the hint of something troubled, something sharp and dark in a way she couldn't quite explain. Just a general impression of a mind that was enough to trigger warning bells in her head and have her focusing a little more. In her bed, she rolled to her side, curling in a little in a protective ball that would keep her physically as safe as possible while she reached out with her mind and focused, pushing past all the side noise to try and center right on the mind she wanted. It took a moment of fine tuning before she picked up on the man's thoughts. When she did, she almost froze completely.

Picking up on someone's thoughts or even actively reading them wasn't like looking at a book with things written there to easily read. It was… half formed thoughts, impressions, memories associated with thoughts or with what was being seen or heard, sensory input being translated in the brain, emotions twisted with thoughts. It was like a code that was just slightly unique to each person and could take a moment to sift through and make any sense of. What she picked up from this person-Lucius Macias, 47, a professional with a bit of a sadistic streak-made Spencer want to curse. It was a memory of orders, of a man telling him and his buddies that "That woman, Dr. Shirk, she's going to cause trouble. She's already been asking too many questions. Now she's managed to get directly involved with one of our potential patients. I want you to take care of it." And then a sense of pleasure and anticipation at what they were going to go do, ideas and such floating around in his head in images that made Spencer want to hurl.

This person, Lucius, and his four companions, they were here in the hospital. They were in the emergency room and, as Spencer focused, she could tell that they were getting ready to start their sweep. They'd work floor to floor until they found Laura-who was currently in a lab on Spencer's floor, the third floor.

There was no time for Spencer to try and call for backup. She uncurled herself from the bed and pulled away the blankets. Unhooking the machines was easy, as was disabling the alarm from removing some of them. She didn't have the phone-Natasha had it so she could contact Clint and so she could check in with Phil tonight-so she couldn't call for help. Nor were either of her friends close enough for her to mentally reach out to them. That meant that Spencer was going to have to get Laura out of here… on her own.

Spencer's mind raced through possibilities even as she pulled on the slippers and robe that were found in the bathroom. This had to be done very, very carefully, or else she was going to risk blowing her cover. If she could get Laura out while still keeping herself safe, that would be ideal. If she had to burn herself to keep the woman alive, well, that was a risk she was willing to take, and she'd take SHIELD's punishment for it as well.

By the time she left the room, she had a half assed plan. One she had to enact quickly. The goon squad was already onto the second floor.

There was only one nurse at the end of the hall, at the main desk. Since it was night, the staff was lower for this floor. That made this part of things simpler. Without getting close enough to be seen, Spencer reached out with her powers and did something she wasn't fond of doing anymore. She laid a suggestion over the nurse's mind. It would have her keeping people away from Spencer's room, making sure no one went in there to bother her until the next shift change in two hours.

Once that was done, Spencer turned and made her way down the hall in the opposite direction. She tried to quicken her steps despite how it made her already aching body throb even more. She had, at most, three and a half minutes until the group started to make their way to this floor. She had to move.

A quick check showed her the hallway camera. Huh. Looks like something was going in her favor at least. The little light that showed a working camera wasn't there. Most likely the men had messed with the cameras and shut things off so they wouldn't get caught doing whatever it was they were going to do to Laura. That was going to make things a little easier for Spencer.

She hurried down the hallway and up to the door that she could sense Laura's presence behind. A quick scan showed no one else in there. Perfect.

There was no time to waste. Spencer didn't hesitate to open the door and slip into the room. The sound of it opening had Laura spinning around from where she was sitting at a table full of equipment. She'd been looking down into a microscope when Spencer had come in. Now she sat up straight, looking at Spencer with wide, surprised eyes. "Erin! What on earth are you doing up here?"

Spencer debated what to say for only a split second. No time to take this easy. We need to move! The men were getting closer—too close. Spencer wasn't going to be able to take the easy way, dammit. Pushing the door closed behind her, Spencer moved forward, right up to the table Laura was at. "I don't have time to explain everything, ma'am, not at the moment. But you're in danger and I need to get you out of here."

Instead of the panic or disbelief that Spencer had expected, she was surprised to see Laura tense and her eyes narrow on Spencer in suspicion. Her next question proved just how smart of a woman she was. It also made Spencer like her just a little bit more. "Who are you?"

Spencer felt a small spurt of pride for Clint's wife. She wasn't someone who was going to faint at the first sign of trouble. She was tough—exactly as she'd need to be to be married to a spy. The way she was edging to the right suggested she was going for the tray of supplies near her that held a scalpel. Smart woman.

The men were getting closer now. They were fast running out of time. Staring at the woman's face, Spencer payed that she was making the right decision here, that she wasn't making a huge mistake. Then—for the sake of someone who was family, for someone who meant the world to the most important person in Spencer's world—she risked sacrificing the mission and gave an honest answer. "They call me Erinyes."

Instead of the usual fear that Spencer saw if people heard that name, or the horror that others showed, this woman stunned her completely by actually relaxing a little. It was the first time Spencer had ever seen someone relax at the sound of her codename. "Erinyes." A smile curved her lips. "I've heard so much about you."

The feel of the men reaching the stairs had Spencer wanting to curse. She pulled back from the sentimental moment and forced her mind on the mission ahead of her. Get Laura to safety. "I'd love to continue this meeting, ma'am, but we're running out of time. I can't give you all the reasons right now, but there are four men that are currently entering our floor that are here to kill you. We need to get you out of here."

Color drained from Laura's face. At the same time, she straightened up, bracing herself against it all. She drew in a breath, obviously battling back the multitude of questions that her mind was almost screaming, and then she looked right at Spencer and nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

Oh, yes, Spencer liked her. "I can see what he sees in you." She said softly. Then she twisted to move back towards the door. There, she pressed one hand against it, closing her eyes and focusing. Finding the men's minds was easy; it took only a second after that to lay their position onto the mental map of the hospital that she carried. Shit. They were professionals; she had to give them that. They were clearing the floor in a way that blocked all their exits. There was no way anyone was getting out of here without going past them.

As her powers were reaching out, she felt a familiar presence that almost made her cry from joy. Clint. Clint was here! He'd probably figured out that Laura was still here and was hoping to sneak into the hospital to see her. It'd be safer than trying to talk to her wherever she was staying at. It was a smart plan. It also worked out perfectly for Spencer at the moment. She didn't hesitate to reach out to her friend's mind. /Clint, thank God you're here/

/What's going on?/ he sent back almost immediately. His mental words were overlaid with other thoughts, exit plans already building, tension growing through him as he prepared for the trouble that Spencer's tone implied.

She smiled and drew in a steadying breath. /We've got trouble here. Our bad guys want Laura removed—she's apparently asking too many questions. I've got a four man hit squad closing in on us. I can get her clear, but we need a rooftop extraction as quick as you can/

There was a moment where all she heard and felt was Clint cursing while fear and anger snapped through him. Then the agent part of his mind clicked into place and the rest of it was shut off. Emotions like that had no place here. He needed to be in control to help get them out. /I'm on it. ETA?/

Running through possible scenarios and outcomes, Spencer picked the one with the highest probability of success, but she planned for the last option. /Seven and a half minutes/

/I'll be ready in five/ There was a small pause, and then /Keep safe, Spencer/

Keep safe. He meant the both of them, she knew, and she was going to do her best to comply with that. /On it, Hawkeye. Keep close/ With that, she turned her focus back to Laura. Mental conversations happened a whole lot faster than people probably realized. Thought travels faster than words. That conversation should've taken a few minutes, at least. In reality it'd taken, at most, a minute. So Laura had no idea just how much Spencer had figured out in that short time. There wasn't any more time to explain much to her, either. All Spencer could offer her were a few words she hoped she understood. "We've got someone on high who's going to get you out of here. I'm sorry, but until we get you there I need you to listen to me without hesitation. Can you do that?"

"Yes." Laura said immediately.

The fact that she agreed so easily floored Spencer. She put the thought away to analyze later, though. When she had time to marvel over the whole idea.

The men outside were too close for Spencer to just slip out. That meant she was going to have to do this the hard way. It also meant that she needed to do something important, or she was truly going to blow this whole mission. She didn't really think about it as she strode over to the nearest counter and, at the same time, reached inside and flipped that switch. The change came over her body so smoothly she didn't even miss a step as she became he.

Spencer reached the counter and quickly grabbed up the scalpel that Laura had been planning on grabbing before. Behind him, he heard Laura draw in a quick, surprised breath. When Spencer turned around, he found the woman staring at him, her eyes wide. "Wow." Laura breathed out. "That's, ah… that's a hell of a disguise there."

Spencer shrugged. At the moment it was perfect; no one out there would recognize him.

Well, mostly perfect. This body-wide ache could go the hell away, thank you very much.

"I need you to stay in here." Spencer warned her. It was important Laura stay in here. That way Spencer would be free to focus on the fight without worrying about her. "No matter what you hear, stay in here. If anything happens to me, head straight to the roof and you'll be safe up there, I swear to that." A cough broke free and Spencer had to fight to keep it from growing. No need to let the men know they were in here. Rubbing a hand at his chest and wincing, he pushed on. "Just keep this door closed until I come for you."

Unfortunately for him, Laura seemed to be almost as observant as her husband. Or maybe it was just that she was a doctor and was used to looking for certain things. Whatever it was, she stared at him for a second and then her eyes went wide once more, only for a different realization this time. "Oh my God. You're really sick." Laura sounded like she couldn't quite believe it. "Once you said who you were, I thought you must've been faking it somehow. But you're actually sick."

"Yeah." Spencer croaked out. He found another scalpel on the other counter and grabbed that as well. Then he made his way over to the door.

She reached out to catch his arm, her worry only growing when the touch made him wince. "Erin...Erinyes...You can't go out there and fight like this!"

Very gently he pulled his arm away from her. "It's my job. And you're family." To Spencer, that said it all.

Focusing on the men outside, he waited until the time was right and then quietly slipped out of the room, pulling the door shut behind him with a soft click. It took until he was almost a foot away from the door before the two men at the end of the hall finally noticed him. They spun, hands reaching for weapons only to hesitate at the sight of his hospital clothes. If he was a patient, they weren't going to want to risk scaring him. Spencer used that to his advantage. His expression was confused and he let a bit of his ache show as he shuffled himself forward. "Can you guys help me?" he called out in a croaky voice. "I… I can't find any nurses and I, I just… I need…"

He was close enough now that it was easy to stumble, to trip towards them and watch as the one guy moved to help catch him, just as Spencer had known he would. It was human nature.

Unluckily for this guy, it put him exactly where Spencer wanted him. He didn't even notice the scalpel until it was too late and he was falling to the floor, blood pouring from the wound in his neck where the scalpel still stuck. The noise they'd made had apparently been enough to signal backup, because in the next moment Spencer felt them coming and he had to jump up, spinning around in just enough time to defend himself.

His moves weren't as fast or agile as they normally were. Pain and difficulty breathing made it harder for him to fight. By the time he took down his second opponent with a solid left hook, the other two had come running. Spencer was down to one knife, was already plenty bruised, and they were armed with guns. Spencer braced himself and spread his arms out, offering them a cocky grin. He didn't offer them a chance to back out—that wasn't an option here for any of them. Nor did he offer any taunting words. Instead, he did the only thing he could do.

He fought.

It was a blur of bodies and limbs and gasping breaths. Of aches and pains and a fiery agony in his left arm. But Erinyes had learned long ago how to fight through pretty much anything. He kept going, kept moving, knowing that he had something very important to protect. And when he finally stopped, he was the only one left standing—though not the only one left alive. One of the men was alive yet unconscious, just as Spencer had wanted, and he wasted no time in using the ties he found on one of the other bodies to come back and secure the guy before tossing him into a nearby storage room. "I'll be back for you shortly." Spencer promised him lowly.

Six of Spencer's seven minutes had already been wasted. He had a minute and a half left of the estimate he'd given Clint. They needed to be up there before that time ran out and Clint started trying to figure out ways in to 'rescue' them.

When he opened the door to get Laura, he was at six minutes and thirteen seconds.

"Come on," Spencer said, barely even fazed as he dodged the blow that Laura had sent his way. The fact that she'd been prepared to defend herself showed just how smart she really was. Spencer ignored it and gestured with his good hand. "We've got about a minute to get you to the roof. Let's move."

Laura followed him, eyes on the arm he had cradled to his chest. "You're hurt." She looked over him, over the blood that was on him—some of which was actually his—and then her eyes went to his face, catching there even as Spencer was yanking open the door to get to the stairs. "I thought you couldn't be hurt. Healing factor." She pointed out.

"The fact that you're only questioning that now worries me." Spencer said honestly. He put his good hand between her shoulder blades and pushed her through the door, towards the stairs. "You trust far too easily, ma'am. You should've questioned who I was and forced me to prove it before you trusted me earlier."

"Are you telling me I shouldn't trust you?"

A wheezing laugh slipped past Spencer's lips. He kept pushing her, moving her towards the stairs and up them. "I'm telling you it's a little late for that now."

They made it up one flight of stairs before Spencer's wheezing really started to kick in. His body was injured, ill, and his healing factor wouldn't be back for a little while yet. The sound of his breathing had Laura dropping back to his side instead of being in front of him. She tried to catch him up, her hands only serving to make some of the aches worse. "You need medical attention." The doctor told him firmly. "And oxygen."

They both knew now wasn't the time for that. Spencer drew in another shaky breath and forced himself upright. They had to move. "Come on." His voice was raspier, but it was firm. He pulled away from her hold and once more put a hand on her back so that he could propel her forward, nudging her up the stairs as fast as he could. If anyone came, it'd be him they encountered. Laura needed to get to the roof—to Clint. She'd be safe then.

No one else came as Spencer got Laura up the last of the stairs. When they reached the door for the roof, Spencer tugged her back just enough that he could slip around her and take that first step out the door. If there was a trap waiting he was going to be the one to spring it, not her.

Only, there was no trap. Not for them at least.

Spencer felt the presence of Clint's mind nearby and turned immediately towards it. There was no real surprise to find an arrow pointing his way. As soon as their eyes connected, the arrow was lowered and Clint was jumping down out of his hiding spot. What came next was a reunion Spencer had absolutely no part in. He stood back as Clint strode forward and as Laura caught sight of her husband. She was over towards him in a flash. Spencer watched as she leapt and was easily caught up with one arm in Clint's strong hold. He pulled her in, pressing her body against his and his face in against her neck.

For that split second, Clint indulged himself in holding his wife, in making sure that she really was safe and with him, and he was trusting Spencer to watch over them as he did. It was a trust Spencer wasn't going to betray. He kept up the watch, eyes scanning around them and senses alert, for the thirty seven seconds that Clint allowed himself to indulge. That was all it lasted, though. Hawkeye was too much of an agent to completely forget the mission no matter how he felt.

He kept hold of Laura as his eyes flashed up to Spencer. There were questions there that Spencer easily read and answered. "There's no one else here, or coming our way. I took care of the four hostiles downstairs. You focus on getting her out; I'll dispose of them and slip back into my room."

"Is anyone going to notice you were gone?" Clint asked him.

Spencer shook his head. "No." They shouldn't, at least. But expressing doubts was pointless and would do nothing but worry the two in front of him. So long as the nurse kept everyone away from Spencer's room—really, there shouldn't be any who would be trying to come in there—things would be fine. Spencer kept those thoughts to himself, just as he kept to himself the thoughts of the man down in the closet—who he should be getting back to, really. That in mind, Spencer leaned back towards the door, body ready to move. "I need to get back before that becomes a risk, though. Get her to safety, Hawk."

"Wait," Laura called out, leaning away from Clint and towards Spencer. "Your arm…"

"Is fine." Spencer said, cutting her off. He shot Clint one last look, wishing there was time to say more. "Go. I've got this."

It was a measure of the trust between them that Clint only hesitated briefly before nodding. "Don't do anything stupid."

Spencer couldn't help but flash a grin he'd picked up from the man in front of him. "Who, me?" When that earned him a dry, flat look, Spencer chuckled and spun back towards the staircase, slipping easily inside.

The laughter washed away as he made his way back downstairs. There was no room for it with what he was about to go do. He had a man to interrogate and then four bodies to dispose of before he could get back to his room.

It was going to be a long night.