A/N So I went to see Thor The Dark World today. Let's just say it was freakin' amazing! Still know nothing medicalish so this is probably all wrong from a doctors point of view but it fits with the story so deal with it. Not long left now, thanks for sticking with it! R&R!
Nothing Will Ever Bring Us Back Together
Chapter Twenty Three- Four days later
FOUR DAYS LATER S.H.I.E.L.D. INFIRMARY
"I'm sorry, Mr Barton. Her chances have dipped if we keep her on life support any longer, Mrs Barton may never wake. If we take her off, her chances of surviving are heightened for a certain amount of time but she still may die." A medic said to Clint, hoping Clint didn't have a knife.
"Do anything you can to make her live. Please can you wait to take her off though, I want to give everyone a chance to say g-goodbye." Clint replied, trying to hold in tears.
"Of course, Mr Barton. Just tell me when your ready." Clint gave him a nod and stepped outside the room to call Pepper.
"Hi Clint." Pepper sighed. She knew if Clint was calling it would either be very good or very bad news.
"Pepper bring Kat and Ethan over. And anyone else who wants people say g-goodbye. They're taking her off life support. When you finished tell one of the doctors they can do it. Look after my kids, Pepper." He told her, refusing to let himself break down.
"Where are you going to be, Clint?" If she was going to look after his kids, where would he be?
"I'll be around the base. I can't let them see me like this." He replied.
"Clint... come back to the Tower when you feel ready. Ethan and Katya, they need someone they can fully trust to help them through this." Pepper gave it as a request, rather than an order.
"I'll come back when you lot go back, when Tasha's dead. Bye Pepper." Pepper gasped. Was it really that certain that Natasha was going to die?
After cutting off Pepper, Clint went back inside Natasha's room. "Goodbye Tash," He whispered, "You were the best friend, partner, assassin, wife, mother, and anything and everything else anyone could ask for. Tash. I will miss you everyday, as will Kat and Ethan, but I promise I will try to be there for them and move on, just like you would have told me to. Goodbye Natasha Romanoff, I love you." Clint bent down and kissed her then exited the room. Somewhere else in the base, Director Fury saved the tape of the surveillance camera of Medic Room 2 to his personal files. Perhaps he was too busy doing that to notice where Clint had gone.
Less than 10 minuets later, Bruce, Betty, Lilly, Lewis, Ethan, Katya, Thor, Jane, Blaze, Steve, Peggy, Alice, Tony, Pepper, Ella and Joe pulled up outside. They rushed to the medic bit and then had to channel the only six visitors at a time rule. Thor, Jane, Blaze, Steve, Peggy, and Alice went in first. Blaze, Alice and Peggy didn't know Natasha at all, so stood off to the side. Jane had met her on the nights she stayed at the tower which, added together, was ten. She stood off too, and let the boys say goodbye.
"Lady Natasha," Thor began, "I don't know where to begin. You are a brave warrior, worthy of Asgard, and it was a treat working with you. You shall be sorely missed among the Midgardians. Goodbye Lady Natasha."
"Natasha," Steve couldn't believe he was saying this, "You need to live but just incase you don't here's my little speech for you. You sacrificed a lot, came along way from the red room. I hope that the Avengers helped you, that the years with Clint helped you. It was an honour serving with you, Ma'am." He exited the room and the others followed suit. Next up was Bruce and family. Lilly and Betty stood off to the side this time.
"Natasha, I'm sorry. I never said thank you for having me so here it is. Thanks for having me to stay even if it was just that one night. I'm sorry you had to go like this. Goodbye, Natasha." Lewis spoke solemnly.
"Natasha Romanoff. I don't know where to start. I almost killed you on the helicarrier, yet you still trusted me afterwards. You recruited me for this mess and I'm glad you did. You brought me in to this, you can't take off now. Goodbye Natasha, I hope there are lots of bad guys for you to take out in the afterlife." They silently trooped out of the room. Pepper decided that the Starks, including herself, would go in first and when they came out they would give Ethan and Katya a little private time.
"Natasha, you were a good friend, didn't laugh at my jokes, had a good understanding of and knew how to use sarcasm and much much more. You were, and still are, fiercely protective of Clint. I don't think he would make a week without you, which is why you have to live. In the meantime though, since your not awake to hurt me, so long Natashalie, Spidey, Itsy-Bitsy-Spider and anything else I've ever called you." Tony said and stepped back, almost crying. Over Natasha. He couldn't believe himself.
"Natasha. It was just us two girls in the Tower for a long time and I know that I hated you when we first met but, you grew on me. You're my best friend, Natasha, even after all this time. Stay alive. but goodbye for now." Once outside the room she asked a medic how long it would take.
"After an hour, there is no hope." He replied so Pepper told him to start it. He did and Ethan and Katya went in. Neither of them said anything for a while. After ten minutes, Ethan spoke.
"Mum, you better wake up," He said, "Many reasons but one is that dad sucks at being a single parent." Katya nodded.
"Just wake up, please, mum. I'm sorry." Katya said.
"K-Kat.." Natasha whispered.
"Yeah mum... I'm here." Katya said, crying happy tears. Natasha's eyes flew open as she sat up. "MUM!" Katya and Ethan both cried.
"Where the heck am I?" Natasha asked, trying to sit up. And failing.
"Shield medical or something." Ethan replied, having no clue at all where they actually were and not caring either. His mother was practically just back from the dead, so you couldn't blame him.
"Oh God. I hate it here." She cast her eyes downwards.
"Why? It seems nice enough." Katya asked, innocently.
"Because... I... err... I only came here after I'd been shot." She told her, hoping that Katya would remember their conversation about helicarriers and S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Oh."
"Where's dad?" Natasha asked, knowing if Clint wasn't there, he would be beating himself up somewhere.
"I don't know. Pepper talked to him, said they were taking you off life support and to come say bye. He wasn't here when we got here." Ethan said.
"Let's go find him then." She ripped out the heart monitor and other tubes connected to her.
"Mum I don't think you should-" Natasha stood up and fell back down again.
"Ok. Go tell the others I'm ok and they have to find Clint. Now!" Katya and Ethan rushed out of the room, smiling. Ethan said to everyone who was outside,
"She's awake!" Fourteen pairs of eyes widened. Then fourteen mouths smiled.
"But she says You have to find dad, quickly." Katya said, urgently.
So Steve, Tony, Bruce, Peggy, Ethan and Katya set off to find Clint, as these adults were the only ones who knew the base and Ethan and Katya were Clint's kids. Steve went to the gym, expecting to find Clint beating the hell out of a punching bag. He wasn't. Bruce checked in all the labs, because that was the area he knew best. He wasn't there but Bruce didn't expect him to be. Peggy took Katya down to where all the briefing rooms were, he wasn't there. Tony took Ethan and after thirty seconds of methodological searching, he gave up and ran around the hallways shouting, "Legolas! She's awake!" Ethan skulked behind, embarrassed. The others regrouped and Steve remembered something.
"Guys this is Clint," He said, "Won't he be up in the vents?"
"Probably, actually," Bruce replied, "We could get a map from Fury but none of us can fit in them." The three adults turned to look at Katya.
"Fine, I'll go in the vents. Just get me a map. And a torch." She was a tiny bit claustoophobic but it didn't matter. She was going to save her dad.
After a little arguing, Fury gave them a map of the vents and Katya got a leg up from Steve. "Bye guys. I hope I come back." She set off. She scampered around the vents and was soon in the medic part of the base.
"Ow, Kat. What are you doing up here?" Clint asked.
"Finding you. Mum's awake!" She told him, expecting him to question her. Which he didn't.
"Come on then Kat!" He scrambled down a bit until they came to a vent which led in to the room. "Natasha Barton never do that to me again, ever!"
"What, no hug?" Clint went over and gave her a kiss and a hug.
"Tash, I thought you were going to die. You were going to die." He sobbed in to her shoulder. His voice didn't crack but the tears fell.
"Everyone is going to die, one day. Why were you in the vents?" Natasha said. She appeared to have completely recovered.
"I was... I thought... I didn't want anyone to find me." Clint tried to make up excuses but all he had really wanted was to be alone while Natasha died.
"Well that worked. Clint will you do something for me?" Natasha asked, surprisingly cheery.
"Anything Tash. Only if you stay alive."
"I will. Get me out of this bloody hospital before I die."
"Tash. You were shot, had CPR, a blood transfusion and a load of stitches. Out for five days. Five Tash. If you ever do that to me again... You need to stay."
"I don't care. This is S.H.I.E.L.D. I can't stay here. Fury will come, try to re-recruit the Black Widow and Hawkeye, try to get Ethan and Katya into the Avengers kids or whatever it will be called."
"It's Revengers. I've already done one mission. With Ethan and Katya. They have codenames and everything." Natasha shook her head. She could convince Fury to let them go, leave them alone.
"There's nothing I can do, is there?" Clint shook his head. "Get me out of here, Clint."
Clint and Katya walked out of the room and met with the others. They all went in and saw Natasha, then all of them went back to the Tower. Natasha was lonely in hospital but Clint had her on face time so she could join in with the craziness of the Tower. Fury came to visit her a few times, showed her the Avengers' goodbye speeches, Fury's daughter, Maria with her daughter. Clint, Ethan and Katya came to visit every day, sometimes with one or two others. Two weeks later, she was let out.