It was a mission like any other; The Avengers were called out to Brooklyn when the latest super villain wannabe unleashed a league of zombies in the town.
Patrick Nelson had been working for months for a research company looking at methods for treating atrophied tissues. He'd failed and the department had been shut down, but he'd discovered something else. Now he'd build an army of strong, powerful zombies who answered only to him.
*"These guys are surprisingly spry considering they were previously dead"* Clint commentated, taking a shot at a particularly vicious zombie clinging to Steve's back
*"Oh come on Clint, this is hardly the weirdest things we've faced!"* came Natasha's response
*"We know, we know... Budapest! One of these days you're going to have to fill us in on that!"* Tony said, taking out three zombies who were attempting to break into the bank where a large group of civilians had taken refuge
*"Not a chance"* the two voices stated simultaneously
Natasha quickly shot her widows bite at a group of zombies sneaking up on Clint as Thor's hammer flew through the air taking out another couple
These zombies were proving more difficult to kill than first thought; only beheading or electrocution left them permanently dead; anything else and they just got back up again
*"Hawkeye, to your left. Left Hawkeye!"* came Steve's worried voice, Clint turned just in time to step out of the way of an attack, but Natasha had heard the transmission and turned to seek out Clint, afraid he'd been hurt. He was fine, but the distraction was enough for one of the more subtle zombie to swing a metal bat and hit Natasha forcefully round the head; rendering her instantly unconscious
*"Widow is down!"* Thor informed the others, throwing Mjolnir at the zombie who'd hit Natasha. He landed by her side and picked her up, heading straight towards Shield as the others chattered away in his head:
*"Thor what happened?!"*
*"Is she okay?"*
*"What's going on?"*
*"Thor?"*
He was too busy to answer; blood was streaming down Natasha's head, dripping from her nose and ear. He could still head the sickening crushing sound the bat had made when it made contact with her head
Landing smoothly on the roof of Shield, he made his way quickly down to the medical level. Tony or someone must have contacted them already as Dr Hart and his team were waiting for them
Natasha was taken from his arms and whisked away down the hall, leaving Thor alone with his four other teammates chatter in his head
Clint was beginning to yell, so Thor thought it was time to answer him; *"We have arrived at Shield. Your medical men are examining her"*
*"We're on our way"*
By the time Clint stormed into the medical wing, the doctors were just finishing up with their scans and delivered their news to Coulson
"Coulson?" Tony asked eagerly
One glance to Clint, who nodded, and Phil told the team the news;
"Natasha suffered a major traumatic brain injury; they're keeping her in a medically induced coma to help reduce swelling. They've intubated her to keep her oxygen stats up and are giving her anti-seizure medication. They're hoping she remains stable or she'll have to go in for surgery"
"What the fuck happened?" Clint asked angrily
"One of our adversaries managed to strike while she was distracted" Thor informed him gravely
Coulson debriefed the others there in the medical bay; he knew he had no chance of getting Clint to leave anyway. The zombies were all dead, Nelson was in custody and the other Avengers all claimed to have no injuries that needed medical attention (despite the fact Steve's back was scratched to hell and Clint looked like he'd injured his shoulder)
They waited, and waited... Pepper joined them and they waited some more, but there was no change, which was both a good and a bad thing... At least she wasn't getting worse
The others all went home eventually, leaving Clint alone with Natasha while they got some much needed rest
*"Tasha, I don't know if you can hear me now, but I need you to get better. I need you, okay? I need you"*