Clint was going to finish this job one way or another today. He wanted out of Russia and as far away from Natalia as possible. He hadn't seen her since she showed up in his safe house. It'd only been two days since then but Clint was feeling an endless frustration. If he made any kind of move then he could be putting her at risk. But it shouldn't matter. Clint shouldn't care. Get the job done and get out. But she could have plan in place and he'd tear it down by whatever action he chose. Clint fired an arrow into the wall to try and release some pent up anger. No, he was done. Natalia didn't matter.
Today at some point Yakov would deliver the stolen police gear and Clint would be there to kill him. With Yakov out of the way then he could drop off the photos and the police would take care of the rest. He didn't know the time for the drop so Clint was readying to leave his safe house before the sun even rose.
The sun was just starting to come up as Clint set himself up for a long day of surveillance on the rooftop of the apartment. There was snow falling and Clint was sure he'd lose a few appendages to frost bite. Fuck he hated it here. There was no sign of activity and Clint was beginning to dread the drop off would be done using the tunnel system and he was in the wrong place. There was little point heading to the cafe now though. He'd just have to watch and hope.
Finally after laying in almost the same position for over five hours two cars followed by a delivery truck arrived. Clint readied his listening device and watched as Nikolay exited the building. Yakov greeted him cordially.
"I hope you've taken care of the slut?" Yakov questioned.
"You can be assured I'm dealing with her. Slowly." Nikolay smirked cruelly. Clint felt his blood run cold.
"Just kill her! She's one of the best agents the KGB has. If you toy with her she'll escape. Take care of the problem or we're done." Yakov snapped harshly.
Clint didn't stick around to hear the rest. He didn't know if he had time to reach the entrance to the tunnel at the cafe but he had to try. Going straight through the front entrance would be suicidal. A flash of the room he stumbled across in the tunnels came into his mind. Natalia would be in there and by the sounds of Nikolay's assurances, she was being tortured.
The sound of blood rushing in his ears beat with the sound of his feet hitting the ground as he ran. It was taking too long. She'd be dead before he could get there.
Before long Clint reached the back entrance of the cafe. He cleared the fence in seconds and kicked in the lock. There was no time to fiddle with it. The lock on the tunnel entrance wouldn't budge when he kicked it so he had to waste precious minutes picking it. Finally it clicked opened and Clint jumped down into the tunnel, bypassing the ladder altogether.
To walk the tunnels it would take him at least twenty minutes. Natalia didn't have that much time. Clint switched on the torch and began running again. His footsteps echoed throughout the tunnel but he kept going until he reached the first dim light bulbs. He didn't want to think how long it took him, it could be too late but he still had to try. Clint turned off his torch and forced himself to walk slowly.
The sound of gun shot rung through the tunnels and Clint froze. He was too slow and Natalia paid the price. Clint felt a wave of sickness grab at him. It was irrational to feel this way. He wasn't close to her, she was nothing to him. Yet the fact that she was gone didn't sit well with him. Clint readied his bow and continued on. He'd avenge her at least. Clint ignored the logical side of him that was telling him to get the fuck out of there before he ended up the same way.
Clint peered around a corner and spotted two guards at the door into the torture room. With practised ease he readied an arrow before stepping around the corner at the same time he released the arrow. The arrow pierced the first guards neck. He stepped back around the corner to avoid the gunfire from the second guard. Clint dropped down and then rolled out into the tunnel to avoid being shot then fired another fire. The second guard went down and Clint jumped up and ran for the door.
It swung open and Clint had an arrow loaded in his bow ready to go. He was expecting to see Natalia's lifeless body. Instead he was greeted with a red raised eye brow. Yakov was dead on the ground.
"Well don't just stand there Barton. There'll be backup any minute now since you can't take out two guards without alerting the whole god damn building." Natalia snarked at him. She looked beat up, blood was covering her but she was very much alive and bitchy as ever.
"I thought you were dead." Clint breathed out. The adrenaline rush wearing off. He lowered his bow and slung it over his broad shoulder and moved to help removed the cuffs off Natalia.
"I told you, I wanted Nikolay to kill Yakov." Natalia looked at him as if he were stupid. It was a fair call, he was feeling that way right now.
"He could have killed you."
"Nikolay? He wouldn't have killed me for weeks."
"Yakov ordered it. I don't think he was happy about the whole KGB thing." Clint was still reeling. This was all becoming too much. This is why the working with other people thing didn't work.
"Who do you think tipped off Yakov that I was KGB?" Natalia asked with a hint of amusement.
"You set this whole thing up..." Clint was starting to understand now. But the torture Natalia had gone through was very much real. The level she went to to ensure the job was done was far more than he'd seen before. "But, how did you get Nikolay to kill Yakov?"
"Simple really. I offered Nikolay protection, ensured him I have evidence to put Yakov away for life. Yakov moved to shoot me. Nikolay shot him first. It wasn't hard to tell Yakov wouldn't have stopped with me."
"But now he's going to come back down here with back up and try to kill us both." Clint freed her from the first cuff and moved to her other hand. "Kinda fucked that up. Sorry."
"I was counting on it." Natalia replied factually. She sat up as Clint removed the second cuff. "Cover the door, I'll get these."
"What's your plan here Nat...alia." Clint caught himself before using the nickname again. He pointed his bow at the door.
"I put a tracker in your quiver. Sent the tracking information along with all your photos to the police HQ but with a time delay on it. The post office only delivered it today. I knew Yakov wouldn't be at the office at the time. If I'm right, which I always am. The police are on their way. We just need to get out of here before they arrive. Think you can manage that Barton?"
"So basically what you're saying is that I'm just here to break you out and provide a location." Clint turned back to look at her with a flat face. Natalia stood up with a slight stagger.
"Not at all." Natalia paused as she swept the room with her eyes. "I could have freed myself."
"Then why didn't you?" Clint griped at her.
"Had to make you feel useful somehow. Got a spare weapon?" Natalia grabbed the gun that he threw at her. He'd taken both the guards guns in case he needed the extra weapons later.
"How grateful I am." Clint retorted. He briefly saw a sliver of a smile on her porcelain like face.
The sound of yelling made them both glance back at the door. Their bantering died and both fell into a fighting stance. The moment the door opened Clint released an arrow and Natalia fired a bullet. The man dropped instantly.
"Come on, this way." Natalia lead him through a side door. It lead into a narrow tunnel. Clint could hear more of Nikolay's men coming and they quickened their pace. Natalia might have expert firing and fighting skills but it seemed she preferred the role of spy not solider. Natalia lead him through another door. They entered a larger room, full of crates. Clint glanced around for an exit but found nothing. He wondered if Natalia was leading him into a trap. It wouldn't really surprise him.
Yet he still followed her further into the room.
The door slammed open behind them and they both rolled out of the way of the incoming gun fire. They crouched behind one of the crates. Clint could hear more people entering the room. He estimated at least five.
"Don't hide from me you little whore." Nikolay shouted out.
Clint loaded his bow. Natalia pointed to herself and then left. Clint nodded in understanding and move away from her and to the right side of the crate. Natalia rolled again and drew the gun fire towards herself. She fired her gun back at them as she ducked behind another crate. Clint moved at the same time but he went unnoticed due to Natalia's distraction. Clint rounded the corner of another crate and released his arrow. It met it's mark and one of the men went down. As they directed their attention to him, Natalia stood up and took out another man.
"Idiots, split up!" Nikolay raged.
A hail of bullets were sprayed towards both his and Natalia's position. Clint took cover behind a crate but the wood was weak and a bullet narrowly missed his head. He moved further back into the room and caught sight of Natalia.
She signalled at him to keep moving back. More men were arriving and against that much gun fire, one gun and one bow wouldn't do much good. They continued their whack-a-mole routine where Clint would fire, duck then Natalia would fire and duck. The men were catching on so to throw them off Clint released one arrow and then a second instead of ducking. He didn't know whether Natalia had watched what he was doing but she'd figured it out and stayed hidden.
A commotion from above drew the men's attention. "Fuck it's the police!" Nikolay screamed in anger. "Go, hold them off!"
Clint and Natalia stood at the same time, their weapons raised and aimed at Nikolay.
"You're outnumbered, drop the gun Nikolay." Clint ordered.
"Not before I kill her." Nikolay jutted his gun in Natalia's direction. "That bitch is responsible for ruining my whole operation!"
"It's hardly my fault you fell for my act." Natalia responded coolly. Clint shifted and caused Nikolay to redirect the gun slight towards him. Clint held back a frown when she didn't make the shot. He didn't get what she was waiting for. Unless she had no more ammo left.
"Lower your weapons or I'll put a bullet in her head!" Nikolay screamed, spittle flying.
"You're going to kill me either way." Natalia said with a shrug but complied and started lowering her weapon. Nikolay grinned manically. "To be honest I'll be glad to be dead. The way you fuck ruined any appeal sex had for me. Is it even medically possible for it to be that small or did you have an accident?"
"You bitch!" Nikolay wailed. The man was shaking with anger and as Natalia continue to goad him he reacted with more pronounced movements. The gun was aimed at her shoulder now and Clint didn't hesitate to release his arrow. Nikolay fired his gun only a second later, just before the arrow struck his heart. Natalia moved to the side but the bullet still pierced her arm.
"Let's get out of here before the cops find us." Natalia clutched her arm to stem the flow of blood and lead him to the back of the room. "Move that crate."
Clint complied without making a fuss. Under the crate was a trap door. Clint went down first and offered help to the injured woman. The glare she gave him suggested for him not do that again.
Natalia lead the way and Clint followed her silently. After the initial gun shot he'd thought her dead, instead he was walking out of here with her. Job done and both of them alive. Natalia was a little worse for wear but he had a feeling to her, this was nothing. He felt he should be more pissed off about her setting him up, making him believe she was going to die. Though he supposed he should have known better, the Black Widow was a force to be reckoned with.
Rather than heading back to the entrance at the cafe, Natalia took them a different route that ended in the sewers. Clint wrinkled his nose in disgust. He hated enclosed spaces enough without the added smell. He'd take a rooftop any day.
They finally exited the sewers and come out in an alley. Clint breathed a sigh of relief at the fresh air.
"When did you find the time to map all of these tunnels?" Clint asked with interest.
"We've both been on this job for near three weeks Barton." Natalia shook her head. Clint was captivated by her curls. "I really do have to wonder what the hell you were doing."
"You know, you don't look that much younger than I am. How do you get to this level? You're what, twenty?" Clint pushed, ignoring the jab at his incompetency. Her age had been bothering him for a while now. He was twenty one and had years of training but Natalia seemed to best him in every way.
"I started young."
"So did I. Answer the question Natalia." Clint pushed.
"Trust me, you wouldn't believe me." Natalia ended the conversation there. Not that he didn't try to get the answer, she just refused to reply.
"Where are you going after this?"Clint asked after a lengthy silence.
"We should lay low for a couple of days. Your safe house is good place as any." Natalia made a sharp left.
"I don't remember giving you an invite." Clint still didn't trust her not to kill him the moment he was asleep or his back turned.
"Relax Barton, I'm not going to kill you. After all I still need you." Natalia's tone didn't seem reassuring at all.
"Well gee, that fills me with confidence."
It took them nearly an hour to reach his safe house and he could tell Natalia was struggling. She had become sluggish and Clint was concerned she would collapse. As soon as the door was unlocked Natalia pushed past him and sunk onto the couch. In the light he could see how pale she was. Her skin was always fair but this was a sickly pale. He didn't know the extent of her injuries or blood loss. It could be a whole lot worse than what she let on. Clint headed straight for the bathroom to get his medical kit and clean towels.
"Just leave it next to me. I can take care of it." Natalia said quietly. Her voice was slightly shaky but he could tell she was trying to mask it.
"Shut up Natalia." Clint snapped. She raised a brow at him but let it slide. Clint is sure he'll pay for it later when she was back to full strength.
Clint took care of the bullet wound on her arm first. The bullet went straight through which was far preferable but he knew personally how much of a bitch bullet wounds were. Clint finished cleaning out the wound and wrapping it up. This is where it was going to get difficult. He knew she had more injuries but he didn't know whether she'd show him or not. She seemed to pick up on his uncertainty and sat forward. Clint tried not to stare at her breasts as she removed her shirt. Clint was impressed at his self control. Clint could see older scars littering her body from a bullet wound near her hip to long thin scars that looked like knife wounds.
The fresh injuries weren't as bad as was expecting but she had a decent amount of cuts that needed disinfecting and a few needed stitches. There was little he could for the bruises but hope there wasn't any internal bleeding.
By the time he was finished his towels were red with blood along with his hands. Natalia looked exhausted but too weary and distrustful of him to actually sleep. He didn't really blame her because he felt the same.
"I'll get you a shirt." Clint stood up and took the bloody towels and medical kit back to the bathroom. He returned with a shirt that was far too large on her. "You can take the bed."
"It's fine. I'll stay out here."
"You're injured. I'm not." Clint argued.
"I'm not some damsel that needs saving Hawkeye." Natalia snapped back at him.
"It's a bed not some fairy tale bullshit." Clint snarled at her.
"I don't need your help." Natalia clenched her jaw in irritation.
"Just take the bed Natasha!" Clint didn't realise his mistake at first.
"What did you just call me?" Natalia asked softly. Dangerously.
"Sorry, no familiarity. I get it." Clint held up his hands in surrender. It was definitely too far. Only very close friends and family would ever use the nick name Natasha. Clint had a feeling she never had any and if she did it was a long time ago.
"I have not been called that in a long time." Natalia seemed caught up in a lost emotion but she quickly masked it. "Refrain from doing so again Barton or I'll kill you quicker than you can blink."
"Point taken Nat." Clint grinned at her as she glowered at him.
"Actually I will take the bed. I'd rather not look at your face any longer." Natalia stood up and moved to the bedroom.
After Clint made up a makeshift bed on the couch and turned off the lights he called out to her. "Goodnight Nat."
"Piss off Clint." Natalia replied drily. Clint smiled into the darkness.