Just finished this chapter last night, sorry for not uploading it then and leaving you on that tiny little chapter cliffhanger for so long.

Chapter 4- Differences
Light filtered through the unfamiliar room, filling it with the light and warmth of the rising sun. Elaina opened her eyes, taking this in, she had never been here before, but she knew she was in the Helicarrier's medical wing. She was laying in a soft white bed, she could feel her thigh wrapped tightly in a bandage. Looking around she spotted Bruce in a corner, his eyes on her.
"Well, look who decided to wake up. Good morning, how do you feel?" Bruce asked smiling at her.
Elaina let out a small self-humoring laugh, her head pounding.
"I feel fine except my head feels like I head-butted a rock," she said with a pain-filled half smile.
"It should, you've got a major concussion," Bruce said. "Nothing life-threatening unless you plan on falling out of another Quinjet."
"Who told you?"
"Who do you think? Tony couldn't resist. He tells me everything he finds remotely funny."
He walked over to her and shined a light in both of her eyes, watching for the reaction or lack thereof. The light made her head throb until Bruce clicked it off.
"It should heal on its own as long as you don't re-injure yourself. I'd give it a week or so until you can start acting normally without fear of re-injury," Bruce said.
"Thank you, Dr. Banner," Elaina said.
"Please call me Bruce you're making me feel old," Bruce said laughing.
Elaina smiled, "Okay."

Bruce walked around the room, checking things on tablets. Elaina looked around, the place resembled a regular hospital with one minor difference. Outside the windows the sky moved as the Helicarrier flew over the clouds. She loved being on the ship, but sometimes she longed for the solidity of land and the vastness of the world. In simper terms; it got old after a while.

"How was Clint?" she finally asked.

"No worse than you," Bruce said looking up from one of the computers,"he didn't stay long. He made sure you were okay, I dismissed him and he left. He's probably up in his nest now."

"And don't even think about going up there," he added when he saw Elaina's expression.

There was silence between them which Elaina used to inspect the bandage around her thigh.

"It's not as bad as I'm sure it felt," Bruce said.

Elaina tried to smile, but faltered, running her fingers over the cloth.

"He failed to explain that in his short time here. Feel thankful, though, that it didn't explode," Bruce said trying to cheer her up.

"You saw?" she asked.

"Tony was smart enough not to touch it, let alone pull it out, so, yes, I saw," Bruce said.

Elaina looked around, she was alone with just Bruce for company. She was glad for it Bruce was good it her and she'd screwed up in front of the Avengers, he wouldn't give her crap for it. He knew she felt bad already, she knew this, he wouldn't want to make her feel worse.

"I screwed up, Bruce, I put everyone's life in danger and I don't even know if we got anything useful," Elaina said.

"Look at me," Bruce said.

Elaina heard his serious tone and complied, locking eyes with Bruce.

"You did not screw up, Elaina, I can't tell you what, but we found a multitude of useful information. No one was seriously injured, it's not like we haven't dealt with stuff like this before," Bruce said all seriousness coming to his face.

Elaina gave him a small, but genuine smile, shifting on the bed.

"Wait? You 'can't tell me what'? Why does Fury want to keep information from me? He asked me on this mission. He knows how keeping information from you guys ended last time," Elaina said.

"I know, but I can't change that, I wish I could," Bruce said.

Another day, that was how long Bruce told Elaina she would have to stay in the medical wing. Natasha eventually came to visit her, sitting on the edge of Elaina's bed. She told her that Durov had been there, but when Clint detonated the arrow it sent the scientist running. He had escaped and Elaina knew she would have to locate him again. Since she was grounded on the Helicarrier for at least a week she would have plenty of time to do so. But while she was in the hospital wing she and Natasha shared stories from their pasts, mainly just to release the horrors in stead of letting them build. It was even better that both knew what the other felt because they had both been in similar situations at one point in their lives. They spent hours sharing their horror stories and with each hour became closer, understood each other more than they had before. Elaina tried walking around the medical wing to see if she was stable, she was, but she did so with a small limp. That much she had expected because her leg still hurt, but she couldn't take just sitting there; she had move or she would go insane.

Natasha eventually left, leaving Elaina alone, Bruce had gone back to his lab to work on something for Fury. The sun was just beginning to disappear below the clouds throwing an orange tint on everything in the sky. The door to the medical wing slid open and Elaina's eye jerked up from the window. She turned around, spotting Clint standing in the doorway.

"Can I come in?" he asked, unsure.

"I don't believe there are any rules that say I can tell you 'no'," Elaina said falling hopeless to a smile.

Clint smiled back, "You're walking," he observed.

Elaina nodded as Clint walked in, crossing the room to a chair not far from Elaina's temporary bed. She walked over herself and took a seat on the edge of the bed facing Clint, smoothing out her new S.H.I.E.L.D uniform Bruce had brought her earlier. The right pant leg fit oddly because of the large bandage around her thigh, there was a bulge in the fabric and it fit tightly.

"I was stupid," Clint said suddenly.

"Why?" Elaina had no clue what he meant.

"I should never have agreed to split up," he said looking at the floor.

"We would never have found those men if we hadn't-"

"And I would have never hurt you!" Clint exclaimed suddenly looking up at her.

Elaina sat there, her lips slightly parted in shock, tribulation wrinkling her brow. She had never heard him raise his voice like that. She pursed her lips and then sighed, dropping her gaze to the floor.

"And don't say that I didn't because I can clearly see I did," he added.

"Clint, the arrow wound in my thigh will heal, but a bullet to the head wouldn't have," Elaina said getting sick of him berating himself.

"I don't understand."

"You did hurt me, but you also saved my life. When you shot me the arrow made me fall to the ground and then gunfire crossed over my head a second later -where I would have been standing. I would have been right in the line of fire otherwise," she said looking into his blue eyes.

The sun dropped below the horizon, throwing the room into darkness before the lights switched on automatically. Clint's eyes were still locked on her when she adjusted to the light. He seemed to be trying to figure out if she was lying or telling the truth. He just shook his head and changed the subject.

"I saw that Nat was talking to you," he said.

"We were talking about jobs we had worked before S.H.I.E.L.D came into the picture."

"You know I was an assassin too, Nat's not the only one who would understand."

Elaina gave him a half-smile, "Of course. However, it is different ,though, being a woman and an assassin than being a guy and an assassin."

Clint looked confused at what she had just said, "I don't see how it could be too different."

Elaina knew he meant no harm, but she could hardly fight the horrible memories that were attacking her mind. The strobing, flashing lights, the loud noise, they all hit her head like a freight train. She closed her eyes, trying to flush out the images pounding in her head. Finally, she managed to push them aside and focus on the present. It would be hard to explain how different they were, so she opted just to cut to the chase.

"How many of your assignments involved you having to sleep with your target?" Elaina said almost bitterly.

Clint was clearly taken by surprise at the words that had just left her mouth, his eyes widening in shock.

"Wh-what?" he said caught off-guard.

He stumbled over his own words before he managed to answer her.

"None," was his repy.

Elaina nodded, half-expecting it, looking at the ground.

"Elaina..." Clint said softly.

Tears glistened at the corners of her eyes when she looked back up, but she didn't look at Clint, she couldn't.

"Elaina...are you alright?" Clint insisted.

"It was basically a requirement at my old agency. My director seemed to think that since we were women it would be easy for us to just say a few fake-drunken words to a man that had downed more real drinks than we'd had fake as to gain his semiconscious trust. To let him drive us to his house where we would give him whatever he desired and then, when he was asleep, put a bullet in his back."

Elaina's voice had dropped near to a whisper by the end. Clint was looking at her with saddened eyes and a frown.

"That's how I became my director's best agent," she continued tearing her gaze away from him, she couldn't bear that look of pity. "I had the looks, the way with words, and I was able to act above all things."

There was silence between them, silence Elaina didn't want to fill. Clint suddenly hung his head briefly before looking up at Elaina.

"Tony," he said in realization. "Oh, God, that's why you snapped at him! I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

"It's alright, Clint."

"Did he know?"

"No, no, I'm telling you this in confidence that you won't tell anyone. Well, except for Tasha."

"Of course I wouldn't. Even if you hadn't asked me not to, I still would have never said anything to anyone."

"I know I can trust you, thanks," Elaina said a smile replacing the tears.

"Trust...that's pretty strong," Clint said smiling back at her.

"We're a team, we're based on trust aren't we? We should be," Elaina said.

"We are," Clint said getting up. "Get some rest, Fury wants you to get right on tracking Durov again. He told me to tell you only if Bruce was going to clear you and if you seemed okay. You're acting and looking fine to me."

He walked out of the medical wing; leaving her to wonder what that was supposed to mean.

Pretty short chapter by my standards, but it seemed fit to end it here. I will upload as soon as chapter five is done, but with school starting I've no idea when that will be hopefully soon. Hope you enjoyed it :)