A/N: Hey y'all, thanks for the support. Shout-out to ShadowBeats22107 because they reminded me that I do, in fact, have to post what I write. I had to cut this a bit short due to the load of homework I have to do now that I'm officially back at school.

Coulson kept a close eye on Clint, who was beginning to show signs of life again. He looked at the young agent with worried eyes. Brooks, an agent that Coulson had mentored, had succumbed to a coma eight years before this. It was as Coulson was starting to get more nervous when Fury came in. He looked to Coulson for a report.

"Have you noticed that they get younger every time, Director?"

Nick Fury knew that Coulson was thinking back to Agent Brooks. It was right after Brooks died that Barton was recruited. Coulson took to Barton as, for lack of a better term, a rebound. He looked between the two comatose agents, immediately realizing which one was worse. He walked over to her.

"I never knew she could get any paler," he said, a desert-dry humor tinting his voice. Coulson felt his lips twitch. This was the closest to a smile he could get to right now.

It was then that Clint started twitching again, more so than before. Fury turned and walked the few steps to Barton's bed, cocking his head a bit.

"Has he done this before?" Fury asked.

"Yes sir, and he spoke, just barely though..."

"What'd he say?" Fury turned his eye to Coulson when he didn't respond right away. "I asked you a question, agent."

"Yes sir, you did. He said, 'Tash', one of his nicknames for-"

"Agent Romanoff, I know. He's probably reliving the few seconds before he passed out. The extraction team saw it all.

A small scoff came from the doorway. The agents (the awake ones) turned to see Maria standing in the doorway.

"You find my assumption amusing, Agent Hill?"

"No sir, I find my assumption amusing," Maria began.

"And what assumption would that be, Agent Hill?"

"He's dreaming,"

"Dreaming?"

"Yes sir. I believe that his dream sometimes focuses on something other than the moments before the blast," she continued hesitantly. Both she and Coulson tried to read their boss's face. He sat down in one of the chairs and sighed that sounded suspiciously like relief.

"Thank god. I thought I was the only one who noticed that," Coulson and Hill exchanged surprised looks. Coulson took a step closer to Fury. He leaned in, as if bowing slightly, and took a deep breath.

"Agent Coulson, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Fury turned his head slightly, looking at Phil suspiciously with a hint of worry. Coulson, stone-faced as usual then straightened back up and stepped back to his place next to the door (and now Hill). He leaned close to her.

"No immediate smell of alcohol," he stated. "I suppose he ships them too."

(insert going-into-the-memory transition music here)

She was risking too much again, and as the timer hit five seconds, he wrapped both arms around her waist and started running. He heard the rapid beeping of the last two seconds, and threw her in front of him. The blast went off, shrapnel pierced his skin, and he hit the ground, covering his head as best he could. The old familiar post-blast ringing of the ears began in his head. He groaned. The ringing in his ears was getting louder, which was strange. Normally it decreased after the blast. Groaning again, he lifted his head up to see if Natasha was all right.

He opened his eyes to a white plaster ceiling and a sterile smell. The ringing was one solid beep. A flatline. The lack of a heartbeat.

The lack of a heartbeat from his partner.

A/N:

I'm sorry, I am so, so sorry.

On a more positive note, I put the whole "I suppose he ships them too," thing in because we all know that Coulson knows what that means since he is one of the biggest fangirls/warriors of all time. Sorry it's been so long... I'm trying to find time to write! Any reviews I can go over in the meantime?