Lost in translation
A/N: Continue i shall!
Chapter 2
Clint sighed as he walked back to Natasha's room. It has been 5 hours since he found out Natasha was at the moment silenced by some unknown cause – and the doctors were not getting anywhere anytime soon.
"Hey Tasha I got bad news. The useless medics said you have to stay for an extra-" Clint started to say but froze as he stared at her unmade bed.
Oh shit.
"NATASHA ROMANOFF WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GOOOOOOOO?" was heard echoing throughout the entire SHIELD base.
Fury looked up from his notes in his office on the other side of the building. He should not be able to hear anything through his soundproofed walls. However he heard that loud and clear through his open window. He paged Agent Hill.
"Barton is about to turn the SHIELD base upside down Sir," was the first thing she said. He sighed.
"Where did she go Hill?" he asked tiredly. It was too late in the night for this drama. Nothing happened at SHIELD without Maria Hill knowing about it. She warily glanced down at her security details.
"Not far," Hill said vaguely. She didn't know what exactly Fury was thinking about the entire situation yet. At the end of the day she always looked out for the wellbeing of her agents.
"If she wants to be alone I'm not going to stop her. Just make sure she eventually comes back periodically to let the doctors fix this problem," Fury said cautiously. Maria sighed in relief.
"Yes Sir," she said before she cut the line. She wiped Natasha's location from the system files and walked away. If agent Romanoff wanted Barton to find her she would have to contact him herself.
Meanwhile the security guard snoozing at the entrance of the medical bay suddenly woke when he felt a looming presence towering over him. He opened one eye and instantly regretted it.
"Where did she go?" Clint asked dangerously, centimeters from the poor agent's face. The security guard paled instantly.
"I-I-I" he stuttered. Clint narrowed his eyes at the bewildered agent.
"You weren't doing your job at all you idiot!" Clint shouted smacking him across the face. The security agent groaned from the pain. It was 3 am! He had already dealt with 15 agents trying to sneak out of medical since midnight. If Natasha Romanoff wanted to leave – he would never have seen her anyway.
"I apologize agent Barton…" he groaned as he rubbed his sore head. Clint sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He stalked back to her room and got on his hands and knees to peak under her bed – her signature hand gun was still there.
"NATASHA I KNOW YOU'RE STILL IN THE BUILDING!" Clint shouted down the hall.
No response for obvious reasons. She didn't appear either.
He growled and took his phone out of his pocket. It was time to call for back up.
Ring. Ring.
Click.
"Tony Stark – get your ass out of bed and come down here right now," he growled into the phone. He heard a distinct groan from the other end of the line.
"You know I'm a patient too right? They won't let me leave!" Tony complained. He was sitting tight in the physical trauma floor since 11 pm.
"Natasha is missing," Clint said darkly. Tony paused.
"I'll be right down," he said before he hung up. Clint sighed and shut his phone.
"Why are you doing this to me Tasha?" he asked tiredly. The one good thing about this madness was that it was preventing him from continuously replaying every horrible outcome this mute problem may have. For now he just needed to find out where she was.
3 minutes later – the security alarms went off.
Clint smacked his head against the wall beside him again. He was going to lose a lot of brain cells.
"So – what do we got?" someone said from behind him. He slowly turned around and stared at a limping Tony Stark with his arm hanging from a sling and all. Clint sighed. So much for effective backup.
"She ditched medical the moment I stepped out," Clint said as he clenched his fists. He should have known she'd leave the second he turned away. No Avenger liked SHIELD medical. They almost had a vendetta against it. The faster they got out - the happier they were. But why on earth did she not tell him?
"Guess you two aren't as tight as we thought you were," Tony said looking at anything except the tense archer. Clint narrowed his eyes as medical personnel ran down the hall past the two Avengers in response to the alarms.
"If you value your life Stark…" Clint said darkly. Tony paled. The archer was not in a good mood today. Figures when his partner flipped him off he'd lose it.
"Ah…right. So the silenced Russian spy is on the run. What do you want me to do about it?" Tony asked warily. Clint was about to tell him to split up when he realized the alarms were not going off.
"Before that – why are we on red alert?" Clint asked slowly. Tony rolled his eyes.
"Oh that's a false alarm – don't worry about it," Tony said waving Clint's concern away.
"How do you know that…?" Clint asked cautiously. Tony gave him a sheepish look.
Meanwhile there was a serious problem at SHIELD to consider. Everyone always thought inside the box. Frankly Natasha Romanoff was one hundred times smarter than the idiots she worked for.
No one was searching for her outside the building.
"YOU IDIOT HOW YOU COULD TRIP THE MOTHER OF ALL ALARMS IN THIS BASE?" a familiar voice shouted in the distance.
Natasha looked up from the little corner of the roof she was sitting on top of from where she had been silently watching the sky. What pair of idiots was having a shouting matching at this time? She suddenly looked very bemused when she realized where the screaming was coming from. There were only two people who would make that much noise in the SHIELD medical bay at 3 am. She was embarrassed to say they were both from her team.
She climbed over the edge of the roof and hooked her foot along the stiff gutter before she swung over the edge and hung upside down so that she could peer through the window into the hall below and watch a ton of grumpy tired SHIELD agents make their way down the hall and to their battle stations.
They were going to kill Stark when they find out it was a false alarm.
"STARK I WILL KILL YOU MYSELF!" was heard promptly following that thought.
She rolled her eyes and swung herself back up onto the roof. She took her phone out of her pocket and flipped it open to scroll down to the number she was looking for. She stared at a name for a few moments before she finally decided it was time to end the madness. She typed out a quick message.
She pressed send and waited for the inevitable response.
Clint was about to kill the damn genius when his phone beeped in his pocket. He froze in his motion to strangle the bastard. They stared at each other for a full 10 seconds.
"What's more important? Killing me or finding out if that's her?" Tony said quickly. Clint glared at him.
"You are such a lucky bastard," Clint muttered as he reluctantly dropped his hands to dig the phone out of his pocket. Tony slid down the wall in relief. Clint quickly flipped his phone open to reveal a new message.
Why are you yelling so loud that the president of this damn country will hear you?
- N
Clint sighed in relief and his shoulders relaxed. This woman was going to be the death of him. Then the anger promptly took over. Tony raised an eyebrow as he read the message over Clint's shoulder and watched him angrily type back a response.
"You know there is something wrong with your relationship when this response doesn't surprise you right?" Tony said dryly.
"She is so dead," Clint muttered as he pressed send and promptly gave Stark the finger. Tony raised an eyebrow at his childish teammate.
"Shut up," Clint scowled as he looked up at him before he stomped away from the medical bay and started searching for places the Russian that made him want to scream could be.
"Good luck with the firecracker ya loony," Tony said as he rolled his eyes and limped back to his room –this type drama he was going sleep through.
Where the hell are you?
- C
Natasha snorted when she read his message. Over-dramatic bastard.
Why? Do you miss me?
- N
He paused on his way up a flight of stairs as he stared at her message.
"Are you joking?" he asked in disbelief. She was being cheeky? AT THREE AM IN THE MORNING?
He sighed in defeat. He was way too damn tired for this shit.
No – so I can kill you slowly and intimately.
- C
Natasha stared at the message for a full 10 seconds. The man was insane while running on no sleep.
That was the worst threat I have ever heard in my life Barton. Loki couldn't pull it off and neither can you.
- N
Clint winced. It was true. However you can't blame him – he was exhausted and she was making him run on a wild goose chase.
You know I could just hack your phone signal right?
-C
She smiled – but he wouldn't.
Where is the fun in that?
- N
Clint scowled at his phone. It was a comical sight to watch him stalk down the hall completely ignoring all the agents around him as he glared at the tiny device in his hands. He didn't need any fancy SHIELD tracking equipment to find his own damn partner. He finally had an idea of where she was – he typed in his response and started running. He wouldn't put it past her to disappear before he got there.
Natasha…I will find you. And when I find you I will royally kick your ass.
- C
She laughed silently. As if she couldn't kick his own.
Natasha paused as she heard the metal door behind her squeak. The wind blew her hair into her face as she glance over her shoulder.
An out of breath Clint Barton was staring at her with a burning look in his eyes.
"I hate you so much," he growled with promise as he stood in front of her clenching his fist around the phone in his hand. She smiled warily and tilted her head to the side. She didn't look like she believed him one bit.
Beep.
He glanced down at his phone.
Liar.
- N
A/N: They have to deal with the situation eventually. But that doesn't mean this story has to be only angst. It also doesn't mean Natasha is in any way a less able agent – she lost her voice, not her solid skills. :)