Oh my God, I am sooooo sorry for the delay! First off, crazy week at school! So. Much. Homework! On top of all that, I had a band concert, horseback riding, and some community service stuff. Plus, it was Halloween! Also, this chapter was hard to write! I decided to get in to Varkov, hence the chapter title "Know Your Enemy". Sounds dark, no? This chapter is pretty Clint-centric. It's cuz all the Avengers come together for the first time in this story. To those of you who asked, not too much on the father yet, although I'm trying to drop a few hints here and there, so just be a little patient with me. I'll get there, and when I do, I want to make it good, so you'll probably have to wait a few more chapters! Well, that's enough of my lousy excuses! Here's chapter 6! Thanks to all my dedicated readers who leave reviews every time! You guys rock!

Chapter 6: Know Your Enemy

**Clint**

The ride up on the elevator, for the first few minutes, was silent. Clint glanced at Natasha, whose face was cold and expressionless. He could tell she was silently fuming. He cleared his throat.

"Listen," Natasha turned to look at him. "I'm sorry about what went down earlier. I was being a jerk."

"Yea, you were." Her tone was even and slightly angry. They rode in silence for a while. "I should have called. Let you know I was coming. It wasn't fair to you for me to just show up." Clint shook his head.

"What would you have said? 'Hey Clint, I know we had some bad times and we haven't spoken in almost three years, but do you mind if I stop by?' Yea, I definitely would have wanted to see you then." He said sarcastically. Natasha smirked. "You did what you had to do." She nodded. They were only half way up the tower. "So," Clint started but Natasha cut him off, already knowing what he was about to say.

"You want some answers." She said, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. He nodded. Natasha sighed and looked down at her hands.

"You don't have to…"

"No." She said firmly. "You're helping me get my daughter back. It's the least I could do." He nodded in agreement. "What do you want to know?"

"What's her name?" She smiled.

"Mara."

"How old is she?" He asked.

"She just turned two last month." Clint grinned.

"She's survived that long?" He said in false surprise. Natasha shot him a glare.

"Next." She said dangerously. He thought about his next question, carefully considering her reaction.

"I know you said it's none of my business, but could you at least give me a hint as to who the father is?" He tried to keep his tone light so she wouldn't get angry. Emotion drained from her face.

"He was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent." She said, obviously uncomfortable. Clint flipped through a mental list of agents he knew Natasha had known. He couldn't think of any she had liked enough to actually have a baby with.

"Did I know him?" Clint asked, hoping he wasn't pushing her too far.

"You probably met him once or twice." She was still guarded.

"Does he have a name?" He decided to try his luck.

"Yes." That was it. Clint knew she wouldn't say anymore, so he dropped the subject. She had reached her limit. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Natasha led Clint into the living area where their former teammates were talking quietly. They fell silent when they saw them enter.

"Cupid!" Tony exclaimed, standing up to shake his hand. "We thought you wouldn't make it!"

"Stark." Clint nodded to the billionaire, grasping his hand. He turned to address the others. "Hey guys. How's it going?"

"Great, now that you're here." said Bruce. "We can finally get started." Steve and Thor moved over to make room for him on the couch. Natasha sat down next to Bruce opposite to him. Tony, who had disappeared into his office, returned holding a stack of files. He handed one to each of them and they all began leafing through the pages. Clint read the name on the tab. VARKOV, SERGEI. He swallowed hard, already knowing what he'd find inside. Lists of his unlucky victims who had, in some way, wronged him. Descriptions of the tortures he and Natasha had both experienced first-hand.

Pulling himself from his nightmarish thoughts, Clint looked around at the other Avengers. All their faces had gone white. They probably hadn't known what they were getting themselves in to. He felt sorry for them. Clint looked at Natasha. Her file lay unopened in her lap. He tried to get a read on her, but her face was like stone. She felt Clint staring at her and glanced up, looking him right in the eyes. He continued to stare at her as they began one of their famous silent conversations; something they had learned to do almost eight years ago.

"I'm sorry I'm dragging you into this. You shouldn't be helping, especially after what happened. I don't deserve your help." Clint cocked his head slightly.

"Don't be like that. There's no way I'd let you go up against him alone. I don't care what happened. Not now. This is more important than some stupid three year old argument. This is your daughter!" Natasha barely lowered her head, giving a small nod.

"Thank you." A small smile tugged at the corners of Clint's lips.

"Any time. I mean it." Tony coughed and they both looked up.

"Are you kidding me?" They were confused.

"What?" Natasha asked innocently.

"You two haven't spoken in three years, yet you can still do that really annoying 'talking with your eyes' thing?" Clint shrugged.

"It's not something you just forget how to do." Tony rolled his eye.

"Well, it's annoying as ever." Bruce cleared his throat, trying to get their attention.

"So, Varkov. What's his deal?" he asked. Natasha's eyes were like ice.

"He used to work for the Red Room, back when I joined. No matter how disturbing a man he is, you can't deny he's a genius. Varkov developed the program that brainwashed me, turning me into a mindless assassin." She shifted uncomfortably. Clint knew how much she hated talking about her past.

"When he left the Room, he became a sort of Mafia boss, did his own thing. That didn't mean his mind got any less curious." Clint's voice dripped with hatred. "If someone pissed him off, he made sure they paid for it. He would kill anyone that got on his bad side, but not before torturing them by conducting some seriously twisted experiments." He looked down as he remembered the mission he and Natasha had gone on six years ago…

"Is this the victim list?" Steve asked, holding up a piece of paper from the file. Clint grabbed it and read through a few of the names.

"Yea." He handed the paper back and allowed Steve to read over it himself. His eyes suddenly went wide.

"You're names are on here." He quietly exclaimed, glancing back and forth between Clint and Natasha. "I thought you said this was the victim list?"

"Not all his victims died." Natasha said solemnly.

"What did this man do to you?" Thor asked. He had been pretty quiet throughout the entire conversation; probably confused as to what was going on.

"It doesn't matter." Clint said quietly. Everyone went silent. Tony was the first one to speak up after that.

"So, what exactly were you two doing when he caught you?" Natasha looked at him out of the corner of her eye, not wanting to make eye contact.

"It was a mission. We were trying to exploit his operations, kill him if we could." She said shakily. "Things didn't quite go according to plan." No one asked them anymore questions after that. Bruce and Tony stood up.

"Well we'll get started tracking down Varkov." Bruce smiled and nodded to the rest of the group before walking towards the elevator. Tony followed him, but turned around before getting on the elevator.

"I just have one more question." He said looking at Natasha. She raised her eyebrows. "When all this is over, can I be Mara's godfather?" Everyone looked at her as she pondered his request.

"Find this bastard and we'll talk." She finally said. Tony grinned then followed Bruce onto the elevator.

"Well, it's starting to get late." Said Pepper, who had been quietly sitting in one of the armchairs the whole time. "How about I make some dinner?" Everyone agreed enthusiastically. Pepper walked to the kitchen and Natasha followed to help. Steve and Thor lingered on the couch, discussing which of them would most likely win in arm wrestling. That left Clint. He wasn't sure what to do so he ended up walking out to the balcony and watching the sun set over the city. He was appreciating the peacefulness of the moment when his phone buzzed. Clint clicked the talk button and answered it.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hey babe. How's it going? Is everything okay?" Clara replied. Clint smiled.

"Yea, everything's going alright. How about you?" Silence. "Clara?"

"Um, I need to tell you something." She said nervously.

"What? Did something happen? Are you okay?" He questioned.

"Yea, yea, I'm fine. It's about your job, actually." Clint closed his eyes. He knew what was coming. "The boss wasn't exactly thrilled that you're taking a whole week off without any real reason, and you've also already used more vacation days then you're allowed…"

"Am I fired?" He asked. She sighed.

"Not yet. He said that if you come in tomorrow, on time, then he'll reconsider. If you don't, then you'll get fired." Clint pinched the bridge of his nose. This was frustrating. "Just tell your friend that you have to work." Clara offered. "She'll understand, won't she?" He didn't know what to do. He didn't have anything except his job and Clara. But at the same time, Natasha needed his help more than ever. Especially since he was the only other Avenger that knew anything about Varkov. "Clint? Are you still there?" Clara asked

"Yea." He answered.

"What should I tell the boss?" He closed his eyes again. That was a very good question.

**Natasha**

"Can you hand me one of the bowls from the cabinet on the far right?" Pepper asked, pointing across the kitchen.

"Um, yea." Natasha went to the cabinet and retrieved a bright blue bowl, then handed it to the pregnant woman.

"Thank you." Pepper said in a melodic voice. While she began to prepare a salad, Natasha quietly leaned against the counter. She wasn't sure what to do, and she didn't want to be in Pepper's way, so she just stood there watching. "So," Pepper said after a few minutes of silence. "Clint came after all." Natasha nodded. "What made him change his mind?"

"I'm not sure." She replied with a shrug. It wasn't a lie. Clint had always been a complicated person. There was no way of knowing exactly what went on inside his head.

"Well, I think it's great he decided to come. It's just like old times, huh? Everyone back together again." Pepper said enthusiastically. Natasha nodded, not in the mood to talk about Clint. She was still upset about their previous conversation at the station, even though she shouldn't be. It wasn't fair to him. Pepper must have sensed her lack of interest on the subject and quickly changed topics. "You know," she began, "I wouldn't mind having a look at this daughter of yours." Pepper glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. "Do you have any pictures with you?" Natasha froze.

"Um, no. I don't think so." She lied. She actually did have a few pictures on her phone, but she wasn't about to go showing them to anyone.

"Well, you'll probably need to get one." Pepper told her. "I assume the boys will want to see her so they know they got the right baby when you all go to get her." Shit. Natasha hadn't thought of that.

"I'll have to run home and get one." Pepper nodded and continued preparing dinner. That was the end of their conversation and Natasha was glad. She didn't want her to hear the insecurity that was becoming evident in her voice. If Pepper or any of the team saw a picture they would surely figure it out. Mara looked so much like her father…

"This shouldn't take too much longer," Pepper said, interrupting Natasha's thoughts. "Why don't you go get the boys?"

"Yea, sure." She answered and left the kitchen. Steve and Thor were still in the living room talking and joking with each other. They fell silent when they saw Natasha enter the room. "Dinner's almost ready." She told them. Thor jumped up and practically ran to the kitchen. Steve stood up, not moving towards any particular destination.

"Do you want me to go get Tony and Bruce?" He asked. She hesitated before giving him a small nod. It'd save her the trip. Steve walked off towards the elevator while Natasha glanced around the room in search of Clint. When she didn't see him, she turned to walk down the hall to check a few of the rooms. As she was turning, she glanced out the window and saw him on the balcony pacing back and forth. He appeared to be talking on the phone. Natasha walked over to the door leading outside and opened it slightly. As soon as she did this, Clint hung up his phone and rubbed his hands over his face in obvious irritation.

"Hey." She called softly. He looked up at her, not a hint of emotion on his face. "Dinner should be ready in a couple of minutes."

"Okay." He huffed. Natasha narrowed her eyes.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing, just forget about it." Clint snapped. She left after that, leaving him out on the balcony alone. He was obviously pissed about something, so she thought it'd be best not to be the cause of any further irritation. He was already doing so much for her, it was the least she could do.

When Natasha returned to the kitchen, Steve, Thor, Tony, and Bruce were already seated as Pepper placed large bowls of salad and spaghetti on the table. She helped the poor pregnant woman, who was struggling with the heavy dishes, carry them safely to the table. Everyone immediately dug in as soon as all the food had been set down. Everyone except Natasha. She wasn't hungry. There was too much on her mind. Mara, Clint, Varkov, the five days she would have left to save her daughter after she went to bed tonight…

Just then, Clint entered the room and took a seat at the far end of the table. He served himself a plateful of food and began stuffing his face, just like everyone else. They were all eating so much that it left little room for conversation, so everyone was relatively quiet. Pepper was the first one to say anything.

"So Clint," she said, looking at the archer across the table. "You work for the NYPD?" He made a strange face that looked like a mixture between humor and frustration.

"Um, yea. I worked for them." He answered. Pepper gave him a confused look.

"What do you mean 'worked'?" She asked. Clint sighed heavily.

"Well, as of thirty minutes ago, I've officially been fired." The clinking of forks and loud chewing sounds all stopped at once. Everyone stared at him, not sure whether to say something or continue eating. It was obvious they were wondering what he'd done to lose his job all of the sudden. Natasha, however, had a pretty good idea as to what had gotten him fired: Her. He had gotten fired because he was taking time off to help her. A wave of anger overcame her and she abruptly stood up and stormed out of the room. Once again, Natasha was causing Clint's life to fall apart, and he was letting it happen. Pepper was right. It was exactly like 'old times'.

Well, Clint's out of a job. Quite a few hints about Mara's father. Any guesses? The truth may surprise you… But that's for later, so I won't get in to that now! Mwahahahahaaaaa! So, what are your thoughts on this chapter? It was mostly filler stuff, but there was at least one plot detail that will lead into something bigger later, which will then lead in to something even bigger! Again, I'm sorry for the delay. I'll try and write the next one faster! Speaking of the next chapter, here's what's gonna go down: Bruce and Tony continue trying to find Varkov while Steve, Clint, Natasha, and Thor do some training. Plus, we learn the gender of Tony and Pepper's baby. I'm still debating this, but after I'm done writing this story, I may use their baby for a spinoff. Any thoughts on that? Reviews, favorites, and follows are always appreciated! I'm almost to 100 follows! Thank you all so much for your support! You have no idea how much it means to me!