CHAPTER #12

Natasha was restless, but no one except agent Barton could tell. He saw what most people didn't, hence his code name Hawkeye. But it was he who could not sleep that night. He hated being cooped up in the airship.

She found him on some upper level, doing what she had planned to do; pace. "Couldn't sleep either?"

Clint nodded. "You have another nightmare?"

"Sort of. Is it really classified as a nightmare, if you're not really asleep?" Natasha asked softly.

"No offence, but you look really tired. You got very little sleep when we were out on assignment."

She frowned at him and punched his arm, "gee thanks Barton."

Together they climbed up a couple of levels. One of the levels was still under construction due to the damage caused by the Hulk and Thor's battle. It was an area that agent Romanoff recognized and back came the anxiety. She stopped walking, so agent Barton backtracked to her.

"What's wrong?" Clint asked.

Natasha shook her head, "nothing."

She was lying and he knew it. "Want to do something fun?"

"Like you have to ask."

Clint launched himself off the platform they were standing on and caught one of the cables that ran vertically in front of them. "You going to come?"

She backed up, ran and jumped. She caught the cable and swung beside him. "Now what?"

He smirked and waived good-bye, "catch me if you can."

"What are we eleven years old and playing tag?" Natasha called out. Then she went after him.

They swung from one cable to the next, zipped down a level and then used the support beams to swing between platforms. Barton was a natural athlete and his circus years, gave him acrobatic ability. Romanoff was a trained spy and killer, with agility that matched his. She caught him by launching her body at him in mid air, clamping her legs around his waist and holding him in place, as they hung from a cable.

"You win… this time," Clint laughed.

She smiled and let him go. They dropped down and walked back to the sleeping quarters. Their little game, had helped her, but he could tell it had not been enough. The reason she didn't want to sleep, was because if she had a nightmare and lost it, Director Fury had the potential of finding out.

Feeling unsettled she asked in a whisper, "will you stay with me, while I sleep?"

"Want me on the cot or in the chair?" He asked.

"Are you sleeping at all?"

"No, I'll watch over you." Clint answered, knowing she needed rest more than he did.

"Chair then…. thank's Clint." Natasha lay down on the cot, taking deep breaths and clearing her mind.

As she slept, he did pushups and crunches on the floor. Eventually he sat in the chair. She got in a good two hour sleep, before the nightmare came. She talked in her sleep, when she began to beg the attacker to stop, he woke her up.

"Natasha it's a dream," Clint said and shook her gently.

She sat up and grabbed his neck with the intent to choke, until she realized who he was. She let go.

"Sorry."

He sat down on the bed, shifted the pillow behind his back and leaned against the wall. "Lean back."

Natasha gave him a look, "I… it's okay. I don't need to sleep."

Clint raised his eyebrow at her, not buying it. "You told me you trust me with your life. So come on, lean back. I've got you." He gently pulled her reluctant body backwards, until her head rested on his chest. She was very tense, so he began talking. "Think about sitting on the boat, looking up at the night sky. Picture all those stars and the gentle rocking of the boat." He continued and she closed her eyes.

When her body relaxed against him, he knew that she was finally sleeping again. They'd been partners on a lot of operations together, they had history. But this was the most vulnerable that she'd ever been around him. She was opening up to him, a little at a time. She slept through him shifting his position. When Natasha was working, she was confident and strong, but at night facing her own memories and mind, that was a different story. In the past he'd witnessed her nightmares, but she never had talked about it. She would dodge his questions and lie. Or she would use that skill of hers to redirect the conversation to where she wanted it. Some how, fighting Loki, had changed something and he liked that change. Natasha slept for four hours straight and then woke up.

She sat up and looked at Barton. "You didn't sleep at all?"

"I can sleep when I'm dead or during a debriefing," Clint joked. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure I'll be doing nothing today and can catch a little shut eye later."

"Thanks."

He nodded and then left her sleeping quarters. He went to the observation deck and checked with agent Hill if he'd be needed. She advised that nothing was scheduled. He told her he would be in his room sleeping, if they required him. He stopped for something to eat from the mess-deck, then went to his room. As soon as his head hit his pillow he was asleep. That was a skill he had picked up long ago; being able to instantly sleep. When Barton slept, even if it was a short time, he would wake alert. Another skill he'd developed early in life, was being able to feel friend or foe near him, even when asleep. That had saved his life many times.

Natasha walked by Barton's room three hours later and peaked in the window. She saw him asleep on his side. "I'm so glad you don't snore," she whispered almost to herself. When they had to sleep near each other when on a mission, he always slept quietly. Rarely had she been woken by him moving in his sleep. She was the one who tossed and turned. What would she do, if some other agent was assigned to her, while she was going through this mental upheaval? She shook her head, hoping that she wouldn't have to find out.

"Agent Romanoff report to the observation deck," the overhead speaker suddenly said.

She made her way there and said, "agent Romanoff reporting sir."

Nick Fury turned around. "That island you and agent Barton found, was just where the human testing is done. We need you two to go back and backtrack the serum to it's point of origin. The scientist was not on that island."

"Yes sir. Are we taking a jet back to Puerto Princessa and then picking up the go-fast boat?"

"Agent Barton will fly the jet in. There's a landing strip on one of the less popular Spratly Islands. There the other agent will exchange the boat for the jet. You leave at 0900. Everything you need will be on the boat." Fury advised her.

"Yes sir. I'll inform agent Barton." Natasha left, breathing a sigh of relief. No one new had been assigned to her and she was not on her own operation either. For those two reasons she was glad. Since they weren't leaving until later in the day, she let Barton sleep. When he'd had a full eight hours, she'd wake him.

Natasha went to wake up Barton. When she came into his room, she heard the shower running. She knocked on the door. "We're back on assignment."

"I'll be out in a minute," Clint said from within. He came out with the towel around his waist. "So what op are we doing?"

"Still tracking that Doctor's serum. The island in the South China Sea only was the human testing facility. Fury wants us still to find the scientist and the originating location of the serum. We take a get to Spratly Island landing strip and then the go-fast boat from there and onward. We leave at 0900."

"Ok, I'll meet you on the flight deck," Clint said. He noticed her eyes lingered on his body. "What?"

"Nothing…. are those bruises from that martial arts class?" She asked pointing at the purple mark on his side.

He looked down and twisted his body to see what she was pointing at. He shrugged, "don't know. I didn't even notice it."

She rolled her eyes and then left, "see you on deck."

At the door she could see him inspecting himself for any other bruise marks. Then he went back into the bathroom and closed the door. Like her, he had a high threshold for pain, so she wasn't surprised that he hadn't felt the bruise. Sometimes that was a good thing, but it also could be bad. Once when they were on an operation together Barton had been shot. He didn't feel the pain and hence lost a lot of blood. If Natasha hadn't been there with him, he would have died. She smiled, thinking back to some of their assignments for S.H.E.I.L.D. One thing for sure, her job was never boring or dull.

Back at her room she grabbed her pack and headed for the flight deck. When she arrived, Barton was talking to the flight deck crew who were near the jet they'd be taking. She walked up the lift door in the back of the jet and secured her pack. Then agent Romanoff sat down in the co-pilot chair and waited for agent Barton.

"We're all set and ready for take-off," Clint reported as he sat down beside her in the pilot chair. He ran through his pre-flight list and then started the jet engines. With the flight deck crew's assistance, he got set for take off on the runway. Five minutes later they were airborne and flying towards their rendezvous point.

CHAPTER #13

The flight wasn't too long and Barton took the jet down. The little island had a short landing strip, but that was all they needed. The boat was tied to a dock and the S.H.E.I.L.D. agent met them. Agent Samson educated them on what weapons, equipment and supplies were in the cabin of the go-fast boat. Then he took off in the jet and they left on the boat.

"This map and information is way better than last time. Look how detailed the view is," Natasha said as she showed him the areal map.

"I'll park us in that little cove. It looks almost like it could be an under water cave. Can you zoom in?" Clint asked pointing at a spot on the laptop image.

"Is that better?" Natasha asked.

He nodded, "it's a cave. Check the nautical map and see what the depth is there."

Again she pulled up the map and he looked at it. "Nice. It's deep enough, but we'll have to see if the ceiling of the cave is high enough. Looks like it should be. It would be the perfect spot to stay out of site and watch the island."

"We're equipped with night vision scope and binoculars, so I can help with the observation too. Maybe climb up the rock face and find a vantage point up top," Natasha added.

As they pulled closer to the cave, the depth finder showed Barton he would have no problem with getting the boat inside the cave. First he pulled in with the nose, then backed out and reversed into the cave. He dropped anchor. The cave ceiling was low, but even if the tide rose there was still plenty of room.

"We don't have any climbing gear. I'll free climb and tie a rope off somewhere above," Clint said. "Whistle if you see anyone approaching on water, while I'm climbing."

Natasha nodded, she wanted to say be careful, but didn't. "I'll give you a leg up to the cave mouth."

She cupped her hands and he put a foot in them. She launched him upwards and he grabbed onto the rock face.

She watched him climb higher, using shear arm strength, until he was able to use his feet as well. The weather was clear with no wind, so that also helped with the climb. He disappeared over the cliff wall quickly. Then she saw a rope drop down near the front of the boat. She crawled forward and tied if off on the railing. Knowing that Barton wouldn't return for a few hours, she grabbed the night vision binoculars and scanned the island across from them. Agent Romanoff could see the armed guards along the shore. There was a new go-fast boat tied to the dock. Probably waiting to make another body dump. Leaning against the windshield of the boat, she got comfortable to do her surveillance. It was about two hours later that agent Barton returned, sliding down the rope.

"It's nice up there. Right at the edge of the cliff is a tree that makes a nice vantage look out point. The tree has a branch that makes hours of surveillance almost comfortable. Up there you can see the main building. They have a helicopter pad on that island too." Clint reported after accepting a bottle of water from his partner.

"Any place for us to have a fire, so I can make us some coffee?" Natasha asked.

"Not this time." Clint said handing her an energy bar.

"I guess the days of being pampered are over. Back to the grind. I don't understand why I can't just get captured and then do my usual work. It would be so much faster."

"Fury might be worried that they'd inject you with their serum, then ask questions. I'm sure you'll get your chance soon enough. They'll probably have you work on the scientist," Clint determined.

Natasha looked through the scope towards the island, "looks like they've begun loading the body bags."

Clint took interest, "five bags. I bet they aren't incinerating them in Thailand anymore, probably in Ho Chi Minh."

"I wonder if this means we'll get to see them bring in more people for testing," Natasha observed.

"Hopefully, then we can follow that transport elsewhere." Clint watched the boat leave and added, "do you want to go up top or stay down here?"

"You go back up to your nest. I'll go up there during the day tomorrow."

Barton nodded, with bow and quiver attached, he climbed back up the rope to the tree. There was a lot of movement on the island across from them, considering it was so late at night. The sky was once again clear, with an infinity of stars twinkling. He could hear the ocean's movement, crashing against the rocks. The wind picked up and carried the voices of the other island over to his perch. He didn't understand the language, but could tell there was no urgency in the voices. Below him in the cave, Romanoff heard the voices too. It made her realize that all men, all around the world chatted about the same things. She rolled her eyes at some of the comments she heard.

As the night became broken by the daylight slicing the horizon, Barton slid down the rope. When he arrived, he saw Romanoff waiting for him. She gave him a water bottle and an meal replacement bar. He noticed that the dark circles under her eyes were a little more pronounced.

"Thanks for the food. Do you want to sleep a bit before you go up top?" Clint asked.

"Actually I'm going for a swim, see if this cave is a dead end or goes somewhere. I'll take the underwater spot light with me."

He knew then that she was avoiding sleep, until her body forced her to take it. "Okay, have fun. I'll be up top. Whistle when you want me to come back down."

She nodded and went below to change into a bathing suit. She returned wearing a knife strapped to her thigh, carrying flippers, mask, snorkel and spot light. Natasha set her watch and added, "I'll return in an hour for sure."

Once he saw that she was in the water and swimming away from the boat, Barton climbed back up the rope. In the early morning hours that it was, the island he watched was quiet. No movement, no voices, just silence. He saw a Greater Crested Tern seabird launch itself into the air beside the tree and float on the updraft out over the ocean. It scanned the water for a fish. Then like the skilled hunter he knew it to be, the bird folded it's wings and dived into the water. It reappeared with it's prize; a nice fish. Back into the air it flew and headed into the interior of the island Barton sat on.

While Barton bird watched, agent Romanoff was enjoying the swim. She saw some fish and other cave dwelling ocean life. The cave did come to a dead end, to her disappointment. Even diving down to check the rock walls, showed that there was no connecting tunnel. A turtle surprised her as it bobbed it's head out of the water. She however did like the rock lobster she found and a crab. She'd find a way to make a fire and make them for lunch. When she went top side, she'd explore a little and see what she could do. Once back in the boat, she changed into her usual uniform and gave a whistle for Barton to return.

"In the bucket is a crab and lobster, don't knock it over. That's our lunch. The cave has a dead end, not even an underwater tunnel. The water is nice and refreshing. I'm going top side," Natasha advised him.

"Nice. So far not much movement on the island. The guards by the dock and shore have just been changed," Clint reported.

As she got ready to climb up the rope, a wave rocked the boat and she lost her balance. Barton caught her in his arms and in the process Natasha's lips grazed his neck as her face got shoved into his shoulder. For a moment she let her lips linger, wanting to kiss him, but the thought disappeared seconds later.

"Falling for me are you?" Clint teased.

"As I keep telling you, only in your dreams.," Natasha said regaining her composure. "Why is it so wavy suddenly?"

He let go of her and looked out at the water. "No sign of a boat, as one would expect."

"Hold the rope for me, I'm going up." Natasha climbed the rope, the binoculars swinging from her neck.

Barton's mind was not on work, holding her in his arms had distracted him. The place where her lips had been, had left a lingering feeling. He shook his head as if to get her out of his mind. He went below and put on his swim trunks. Then dove off the boat into the water, swimming out and away from the cave. He was a strong swimmer, but put himself parallel to their island. It helped clear his mind.

Romanoff saw him swimming, but soon he was around the side of the island out of sight. Through the binoculars she saw that a boat had arrived, but not at the dock. There seamed to be another one on the far side, almost out of view from where she was. As she walked through the shrubs to get a better view, she found a perfect spot to make a fire. There was a rocky outcropping that would block the fire light from the other island and the trees that grew on and around it, would dissipate any smoke that the fire would make. It was a bit of a trek, but well worth it. From that location, she could see the island's other dock and there were a lot of people moving through the trees.

"Must be the new load of test subjects," Natasha said to herself.

She went back to the tree that Barton had been using as the look out post. He was right, the way the branch was shaped, made for a very comfortable position for watching the island. A sound by the rope where she had climbed up the rock, drew her attention. She saw that it was just Barton coming to join her.

"Have a good swim?" Natasha asked.

"Not bad. Met a turtle and a few reef sharks. What's going on over there?" Clint asked.

"Another dock at that end received a boat. That explains the waves from earlier. Lots of people moving back and forth. Either it's supplies or new test subjects."

"It's too far to shoot a tracking arrow. And we can't follow them during the day," Clint thought out loud.

"You could go under the water, we still have that propulsion device and scuba gear." Natasha suggested, still watching the neighbouring shore.

Clint frowned, "won't work as the water is too clear, they'd see me approaching. We'll just have to wait for another opportunity."

"In that case, are you hungry?"

Right at that moment his stomach growled. "That sounds like a yes," she laughed.

"Stay up here, I'll bring up the lobster and crab." Clint offered.

Agent Romanoff added a few more items she would need. She collected some kindling to make a fire. Barton returned with what she had requested. While she made lunch, he sat back in the tree and watched the island. When lunch was done, Romanoff brought him his share of the lobster and crab. He came down from the tree and they ate together.

"If we were different people, in a different situation, this would almost be like a picnic date." Clint said out of the blue, watching her reaction.

Natasha almost choked. "But we're not. Is there a compliment in there somewhere about lunch being good?"

Clint grinned, "yes and thank you."

The rest of the afternoon they stayed up above the cave, doing their surveillance. In the evening Romanoff went back to the boat for a nap, while Barton continued to watch and wait. This would be their routine for the next couple of days.