She was standing in the middle of the cave and she wasn't alone. Clint was there, standing in a dark corner with his back turned to her. He was facing the crude shrine and upon closer inspection, she realized that he was looking down at the little figurine. It was writhing, moving. It wasn't a single piece, but two pieces intricately knotted together that it was hard to distinguish where the one began and the other ended.
She stood beside him now, having no recollection of how she got there. Her hand was in his, their fingers laced. She watched the figurine writhe, seeing two faces emerge and then subside in a tangle of limbs. Catching glimpses between the gaps, there was a warm spark hidden between the two bodies and the light that spilled out shattered the dark and pierced the cold.
The figures seemed to grow, their knotted limbs moving more furiously. They stepped back, allowing it to fall onto the cave floor. It stood as one lumbering mass. The spark inside grew in proportion, the flashes of light getting brighter and hotter until Natasha was flinching away from the heat.
Then it stopped. The searing pain subsided and she looked at the being that stood in front of her. It looked back with a face that looked like a worn, wooden caricature of her own. Another mask hovered beside it- Clint's. As it started to pull apart, the spark within began to stutter and die.
"Stop." She said but the being didn't listen. It was beginning to tear itself away, limbs snapping. The pain of it registered on its face but it kept going. "Don't!" Clint yelled. The spark was dying and for some reason, she knew it was imperative that it didn't. "STOP!" She screamed but it went on, impervious to the harm that it was causing itself.
"STOP!"
For the second time, she jerked awake in an unfamiliar room. Panic made her breathless and the residue of her dream made her delirious. "STOP!" She screamed, scrambling backwards until her back hit the headboard. She fought blindly against the hands that tried to hold her back but they were no match for her in her weakened state.
"Natasha! Natasha!" She stopped at the sound of the familiar voice calling her name. The sound of his voice sliced through the terror and she stilled. Looking around blindly, her eyes rested on Clint's face. "I'm here. Come back to me." His voice was raspy.
"Clint. Are you- are we- where are we?"
"You are at the Triskelion hospital lab. Remember? Director Fury had you moved here so we could find a cure for the problem you two are suffering from." It was another familiar voice- the nurse that had been in her room when Fury had visited.
"How long have I been out?" She asked after being settled back in bed.
"It's been three days since you were brought to us." The nurse informed her, checking her IV line. "I think you were at Stark Tower for around a week before that."
"How long have you been up, Clint?" She glanced at him, he looked so pale against the white hospital sheets.
"Agent Barton has been awake for a few hours now. We're just grateful the arrhythmia seemed to sort itself out around the same time the two of you were put in the same room." The nurse commented. "I'm going to go and inform the doctor that the two of you are awake. I'm sure they'll have some questions for you."
The doctor was a short, wiry man with a buzz cut. He wore gold rimmed glasses and was dressed impeccably. "Let's get started, shall we?" He declared in a crisp southern English accent. "We haven't been able to identify what was in the water that you two drank. All we know is that it has completely embedded itself within your system- even your DNA was slightly changed by its presence."
"But we're better, right? We can get on with our lives, right?" Natasha asked.
Clearing his throat, the doctor answered, "You are better but it's still in your system. It is not showing any signs of degradation despite your rapid recovery. I suspect-"
"How can we control our body temperatures so we don't die?"
Clearing his throat again, the doctor went on, "I suspect that it has something to do with your proximity to one another. It's just a theory at this point, I'm waiting for the bloodwork to confirm."
"Are you kidding me? We're stuck together-" The woman asked, her eyes narrowing and the corners of her mouth twitching.
"It can't be that bad, Tash. Until they figure out what's wrong, we might as well stick together."
"No. No." She felt cornered. She cared for Clint, truly but she knew all of his flaws and all of his weird tics and issues. Every single one of his disgusting habits was a personal pet peeve of hers. They were soulmates in the field but in a personal setting… if she didn't end up strangling him with his dirty underwear by the end of the second day, then it would be the first miracle she would witness. "How far apart can we be without incurring the side effects?"
"It'll be fun." Clint ran a hand through his blond hair, "Just like Budapest all over again."
"You and I remember a different Budapest." She shot him a dark look.
Clearing his throat loudly, the doctor waited for the two to stop arguing. "Now, I don't know how far you can go without dropping from hypothermia. I guess it will fall on deaf ears if I ask you not to push it."
"Clearly. Doc, we'll take it from here." Tony strutted into the room with Bruce following. "We'll take you back to Stark tower and get started on an antidote."
"I think they should stay here where we can run tests on them." The doctor interjected.
"No tests-" Natasha snapped.
"We'll run tests back at Stark labs." Tony offered the doctor a wide smile, "You're welcome to join us but if you aren't a card carrying member of the avengers initiative, you'll have to put in the correct paperwork and get vetted and then there's orientation and-"
The doctor held up a hand, "Please, Mr Stark, stop."
"I know that it's a lot but there are procedures and safety protocol- I promise it's all very necessary." He rambled on, "I bet by the time you get through it all, Agent Romanov and Agent Barton will be as right as rain and we'll have this all behind us." He clapped his hands together and from seemingly nowhere, a group of suited men appeared with clothes for both Natasha and Clint.
"Are you sure you can find the cure for this?" Clint asked, opening a duffle bag that was placed on his bed. Natasha stepped into the bathroom to change.
With a one sided shrug, Tony turned and walked out of the room- gone as suddenly as he had appeared. "Yes, I think we can." Bruce said quietly, glancing up from the clipboard he had taken from the end of Natasha's gurney. "It'll just take some time. As far as we know it isn't Asgardian or anything in our alien database. We've contacted Dr. Strange and he's gone to have a look at the shrine which has been cordoned off by SHIELD. If it's mystical, he'll know what to do." He replaced the clipboard.
Natasha came out of the bathroom dressed in scrubs and sneakers. "I'll feel much better once I'm home." She sat on the bed and tried to take deep, even breaths. The sickness had made her weak but she wasn't about to admit it to anyone. Glancing at Clint, he was pale lipped and sweat rolled down his face. He wasn't much better.
"You guys need wheelchairs." Bruce walked towards the door, stopped and turned, "No offence…"
Shaking her head, Natasha offered him a smile, "It's alright, Doc. If it means getting out of here, I'll take it."