Chapter 25

Memories

It was pitch black in the room when she woke up. She was sitting up, her hands tied behind the chair by the wrist, another rope around her waist, and her legs were bound as well. This wouldn't be hard to get out of any other day but without knowing what was around she wasn't sure how far she could make it. Her head was pounding. She tried to loosen her wrists a bit, stretching the ropes with slight movements. In her movements she felt another chair right behind the one that she was bound to. She felt the hand of someone. She moved her hand again, stretching the rope so she could touch the hand again and try to figure out who was bound behind her, though she believed she already knew. She was able to grab the hand and at once she knew her thoughts were correct. "Clint?"

No answer came. Natasha didn't let go of the hand as her head continued to pound. She looked around the room for any sign of light with no luck. There was nothing for eyes to really adjust to though they would try and then the moment any light was turned on she'd be blind for a while. "Clint…" Her voice was soft now almost pleading. She had found herself in dark rooms like this before but this time was different. This time there were others on the line, not just her. Clint, Tony, Steve and even Bruce were all somehow in danger and that frightened her deeply. She had to wonder how they were holding up. They'd be fine right?

"Clint, you need to wake up," Natasha called out again to him squeezing his hand gently, "I need you to wake up." She sighed when he didn't respond again. She hung her head in defeat for now until she could figure out what to do. She didn't let go of Clint's hand through it all.

Her mind started to wander, if only to keep her awake despite the pounding that was taking her over. She couldn't let herself slip into unconsciousness despite being alone in the dark and in silence. She started to talk to Clint, well more herself but it made her feel better to believe that Clint could be awake and listening even if he hadn't responded. "You know, this is just like that time when Fury called us in about that city going dark. You remember right? An entire city just suddenly off the grid, no one could get a visual contact on anyone or anything in it. So Fury sent us in. We had no clue what to expect. Next thing we knew we were bound to a pole by a chain. We were surrounded and unsure if we'd make it. The streets were lit up by the fires that were raging out of control. We both put on a strong face. You when they threatened to kill me then me when they threatened to kill you. Through all of it we found a way to hold each other's hands like this. Then they left us alone and as we always did, we escaped. Took out those left behind to watch us just using whatever we could get our hands on then snuck around to find the leader of the group who had blacked out the city. I remember your face when you found that one guy playing with your bow; I was amazed you showed mercy."

"He was lucky I had other things to worry about at the time," Clint spoke up with a slight groan. Natasha wasn't sure when he woke up during the story but she was grateful he did as he squeezed her hand lightly.

"There are days when I wonder how we got out of that," Natasha replied.

"The cheesy answer is, together," Clint replied, "the real answer is together by using everything we know."

There was silence for a long time but then Natasha continued, it seemed best to stay talking, stay focused on the memories and maybe with them find a way out of this. "Remember that time when Fury sent us after that mob boss in Vegas?"

"How could I forget?" Clint gave a slight chuckle, "you pretending to be, what was it? Some big rich celebrity who had ties to the underground or something? You gambling and I had to wear that stupid outfit and work at that casino. You loved every minute of it, always making me run around to get you stuff, always teasing me."

"Eventually when we moved onto the next lead you convinced Fury to let you go in as my bodyguard instead," Natasha replied shaking her head with a smile, "Still I miss the casino outfit; you looked cute in it. Not that you didn't pull off the bodyguard look."

She heard him laugh as they both thought of how that trip went; she still teased him even when he was being her bodyguard. Natasha eventually continued the story, her voice softer, "You went missing there too."

"You found me quick enough," Clint replied. Natasha could tell even facing away from him in this darkness he was smiling. She had found him that time. She used every trick she knew to find him. He had been taken by an underground fighting ring and forced to fight for his life against guys larger than him. Natasha had convinced the owner, who was also their target, to let her get in on the action. She put a lot of money on Clint and the bet paid off and then she of course got Clint out of there after that. Clint had looked up at the people watching him during that last fight and saw Natasha smirking at him, and he knew that she had bet on him and was just watching. She'd help if he was in trouble.

"You were doing fine on your own," Natasha teased, "I'm sure you could have gotten out and found me at the poker tables."

"Oh sure until that one guy threatened to enter the ring to fight me," Clint replied, "He was like a hulk all on his own."

"I'm sure you could have taken him," Natasha grinned.

"Well, probably," Clint replied with humor thick in his voice. "Granted I still think letting you play poker is cheating."

"Bluffing is not cheating," Natasha stated with a smirk on her face. She could bluff circles around other players, which she did making people believe she was cheating somehow.

"I loved taking your winnings out for a night on the town," Clint squeezed Natasha's hand a bit more.

"I remember your eyes lighting up when we went to see that one show," Natasha laughed, "it was like looking at a child watching fireworks."

"What can I say? I love a good circus act," Clint replied then sighed at the memory, he really did love how that mission ended. Not so much Fury yelling at them about spending the money after. Natasha had been betting with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s money, but it was worth it. The memories continued to flash in his mind as he remembered another mission.

"What about that one mission when Fury sent us to that old hospital? That guy who had that super virus that he was unleashing on everyone there. You got sick during that mission; I was terrified when that bomb went off and that weird smoke filled the room. You pushed me out of it but in doing so you inhaled too much. I thought you were going to die there but we got him and got the antidote, if memory serves we took a nice vacation after that. Dropped off the grid for a few days and Fury hated us for it. But we needed it. We've gotten out of some tough scrapes." Clint looked down, seeing only the darkness but there was a smile still on his face as he thought about how they'd survived this long. It was a miracle really, each time they got close to death they somehow wormed their way out. One day death would probably catch up to them and really let them have it for evading it for so long.

"I don't know if we can get out of this one," Natasha whispered starting to feel defeated, they'd get out of the ropes easily enough and probably out of the room but she wasn't sure if they'd win the fight in the end. Not after how this had been set up.

"We will," Clint just stated, "We've been here before after all."

"How can you be so calm?" Natasha questioned trying to look over her shoulder at him only to see darkness, "You were a mess last time you were caught by this guy and I was still free to help you. Now though… We're both here."

"I was stuck with this guy once," Clint replied, just being brave to hold Natasha together. He was still terrified of what mental tortures would be coming this time. His next statement was more for himself than Natasha, "Besides Tony and Steve aren't in here from what I know and neither is Bruce. You and Bruce came for me before, we've gone to help Bruce before, I'm sure he won't leave us alone. He'll come for us; you even said so in that hallway. They'll come for us; you didn't break when we were there and wouldn't let me break so you're not going to break on me in here. Bruce will come."

That's when a door opened and light spilled into the room blinding the two. "Well you're almost right."