AN: Initially was going to post this before the previous chapter because I didn't think I'd be able to write it - but looky there, I came up with one, so you get two chapters at once!
"Do you want the good news or the great news?" Clint Barton began when he finally contacted Phil Coulson for the first time in weeks.
"What did you do, Clint?" Phil said suspiciously, sounding much like Bill Murray from Ghostbusters in that moment.
Undaunted, Clint continued, "The good news is that Mazur is safe and the threat to him has been eliminated."
"And the 'great' news?" Phil asked dryly.
"I have acquired a new asset for SHIELD!" Clint exclaimed with perhaps a little too much enthusiasm.
Clint could almost hear Phil rubbing his forehead in consternation. "You didn't, please tell me you didn't."
Clint's tone dropped to a more serious level, "It isn't what we thought, Phil. She's not what we thought."
"And how exactly do you know that, Clint? You think a week or two of watching her or whatever the hell you've been doing qualifies you to say that?!" Definitely angry.
"Living with her, debriefing her. Giving her more chances to escape or kill me than I can count. Phil, you read the same files as I did and maybe all the other girls were nothing but weapons, but Natasha..." Clint searched for how to say it. "You found me when I was in a very dark place. You gave me an option I didn't deserve because you saw something in me. Well, now it's my turn."
Phil Coulson sighed, "Fury is going to lose his mind." He couldn't exactly fault the archer for doing the same thing that he himself had done, but that didn't mean he had to like it.
Losing his mind would be putting it mildly. "What the fuck were you thinking, Barton?" Fury demanded. They were standing off to the side in an airport hanger as Natasha was being led away to a cell in handcuffs, so SHIELD could officially debrief her. Nick Fury was towering over Clint, yelling angrily.
Clint's eyes slipped over to Natasha for a moment during the browbeating to make sure she was doing ok. They made eye contact and he gave a tiny nod to her that he was going to be ok with what he was facing, if she was going to be able to make it through her own trial. The smallest quirk of the side of her mouth let him know she was fine; they had discussed and gone over what she could expect upon their return and so far, it was going according to plan.
Fury noted the quick flick of Clint's eyes to Natasha and growled lowly, "If all of this is because you are fucking her, I will have your head on a plate."
Clint was more than a little relieved that Natasha hadn't heard that particular statement. She might have been in chains, but that was only because she was cooperating. He wasn't sure if she would take offense to it, but it didn't seem like a safe theory to test.
Calmly, refusing to rise to his superior officer's level of anger he said, "No sir. She is a potential asset to this organization and she is seeking asylum from the abusive regime she was unwillingly a part of."
Fury turned to glare at Coulson, "This is your fault, you know." With that he stalked away.
"It really sorta is," Clint said with a smirk.
"Shut up, Hawkeye. If this goes badly, it will be on your head," Phil said with irritation.
Barton looked back at the doorway where the Black Widow had been taken and thought to himself, "Worse, if this goes badly, it will be on my conscience." He sighed and headed to the door where they would be interrogating Natasha.