It was two whole days before Clint heard from Natasha again. He took his laundry to the Avengers' Mansion, hoping to run into her there.
"She's not here," Bobbi said, a sympathetic frown on her face.
He nodded, drumming his fingers against the lid of the washing machine. "I have to tell her," he said in a low voice.
"What? No!" Bobbi shouted. "You can't. We agreed."
"No, the kid agreed. And we all just went along with it. Well, it's not fair."
She sighed. "I'm not disagreeing with you, Clint. But you're under allegiance to Steve."
He shook his head. "I was under allegiance to Natasha way before I ever met Steve Rogers or Bucky Barnes."
"Okay, can you just think about this for a second? There could be serious consequences. You could ruin her."
"I promised her. She's my best friend. I have to be honest with her."
"It's not up to you, sport," Bobbi said, with a tight smile.
"Well, it's not up to him either," he said quietly.
"Look, Clint. This is way more complicated than you hooking up with her under a guilty conscience. Maybe things really did go down the way they did for a reason. Just leave it alone."
"You don't understand. Nothing feels right anymore. This is her life, and I'm not just going to just stand by and ignore the missing pieces. I'm going to tell her and whatever she decides to do with that information is her decision."
Bobbi sniffed. "Missing pieces, huh? And what do you think's going to happen? You'll be the hero, and she'll run away with you?"
"I…."
"You could get seriously hurt, Clint. And you could seriously hurt her. Please. Just leave it alone."
"It's not about me. For once in my life, it's not about me."
She closed her eyes. "I know. I know. Just… maybe talk to Steve about this first."
His phone beeped and he pulled it out of his pocket, reading the screen. 'I miss you.'
He quickly typed a response. 'Me too. Can I come over?'
Bobbi pursed her lips tightly, knowing that he was no longer paying attention to her.
XXXXX
"Are you still mad?" He asked, giving her his best puppy dog face.
She shook her head. "No. And you know that doesn't work on me."
He grinned. "I know."
"Do you want a drink?"
"Uh, no. Thanks. I don't think…."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Nat, I was hoping we could talk."
"Okay…"
"God, this is hard. I don't-don't know how to tell you this."
She sat down on the couch, patted the space next to her. "Honey, you can tell me anything. You know that."
He took a deep breath, his stomach already in knots. "Tasha, there's something you need to know about Bucky."
She frowned. "Bucky? What's he have to do with anything?"
He sighed. "He actually has to do with… everything. Okay. You know how, you don't have any memories of him? Except, uh, the false ones, I guess?"
She shrugged. "A lot of my memories aren't intact. That kind of happens when you've led a life like mine."
He reached for her hand, his fingers shaking. "You wouldn't have such an aversion to him if you knew the truth. That shit was just implanted in your brain so you'd be willing to turn on him."
"Yeah, he's an ally. I've heard that before. And I may not like it, but I can be professional. We'll complete the mission just fine. "
"Tasha…. Bucky's way more important than you realize. When that bastard Novokov went after you, it was really his twisted way of screwing him over. He's the villain here, not Barnes."
Her eyes widened in confusion. "I don't understand. How could he use me against him? We don't even have a connection."
He struggled to speak over the pounding of his heart in his ears, not sure if his voice was coming out too loud or too soft. "You guys had a past history together. And you were very much in love with him."
Natasha gasped, pulling her hand out of his to cover her mouth. "What are you talking about?"
He continued, "your history goes back to your Red Room days. I guess you guys had a fling, or something before you married Alexei. But we both know how old feelings, if they're strong enough, don't stay buried. I know you don't remember, but he took over Steve's mantle after the assassination and you guys were hot and heavy, right up until he got killed by the serpent. Or so we all thought."
"Wh-what…."
"Barnes didn't die like we all were told. Or he did, and was resurrected. I don't know. But you ran off with him and worked undercover. Then this thing with Leo happened."
"Then… how come I don't remember him now?" She asked, her voice shaky.
"I don't know. I guess that part of your memory was permanently shattered. S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists worked on you for days, but it was never recovered. And the guy that performed the procedure on you is dead, so nobody really knows for sure."
She shook her head, slowly rocking back and forth. "And why didn't you tell me this before? Why didn't anyone tell me this before?"
"Barnes thought it was best to let you move on. He didn't want them to mess with your head anymore because of him. And Steve said it was best not to confuse you."
"So, he felt guilty for his past actions, and decided not to act anymore? And you, you feel guilty for fooling around with me on your friend when you think it's possible that I could still have feelings for him, right? This is all about you?"
"Nat, please. It's not like that."
"What if he was never put on our team, Clint? What then? Just keep on pretending like everything's fine and build something on a lie? And what happens when he comes knocking on my door in a few years, wanting to fight you for me like I'm some kind of trophy?"
"You're upset, I know. But stop trying to push me away. We're best friends. And I'm only telling you this to be fair to you!"
"Fair?! You think this is fair?! Screw you, Clint!"
They were interrupted by the simultaneous beeping of their priority phones.
"We have to go in. Shit, we have to go in!" He raised his hands to his hair agitatedly.
"Calm down. You need to compose yourself," Natasha said, her voice even. "I'll drive to the airport."
He shook his head. "No, no…"
"Get in the car, Clint."
XXXXX
"Hawkeye to Winter Soldier," Clint spoke into the communication device hanging around his neck. "I see an unguarded entrance to the warehouse. I'm going in."
"Roger that, Hawkeye. Where's Mockingbird?"
"On the roof, boys. Widow, there's two soldiers in the bushes at eleven."
"I've kind of got my hands full here, Mockingbird," she said, fighting off A.I.M. agents hand to hand.
"I'll get it, but it's not going to be pretty," Bucky said, retreating slowly.
"Do what you have to," Natasha ordered. "I'm fine here. But hurry it up in there, guys." She raised her eyes to the roof for just a split second, trying to get a visual on Bobbi. It was all her opponent needed, and he took the opportunity to dig his knife into her calf. She flicked her wrists, letting loose a large cloud of her Widow's Bite on him and the three soldiers that were right behind him.
Just then, she crashed to the ground with an agent on top of her when she heard a large explosion, her eyes widening in terror as she saw the walls of the old warehouse begin to cave. "Hawkeye! Mockingbird!" She cried, but her comm link was silent.
In a second, a third body slammed into her senses and it took her a moment to realize that it was the Winter Soldier, come to attack her assailant with a stream of fire. "What the hell are you doing?! Clint and Bobbi are in there!" She shouted at him.
"You're bleeding. I'm not going to leave you," he said simply, tearing off a piece of his sleeve and exposing his metal arm as he wrapped it around her leg.
"Hawkeye! Clint!" She struggled against him. "Get off of me! I have to get to them."
He picked her up effortlessly, swinging her legs over his arm as he carried her to cover.
"Don't touch me! I have to save Hawkeye! He's in there!"
He leaned his head back away from her kicking legs and flailing arms. "Listen to me. I'm going to go get Clint, but honey, you can't stand on that leg and I need you to get to cover. Okay?"
She nodded wordlessly.
"Now stay here," he ordered. "Call S.H.I.E.L.D. for an extraction and dammit, see if you can get ahold of Bobbi."
He crawled slowly through the debris, his eyes stinging from the ashes and his lungs screaming through the smoke.
"Buck?" A small voice asked.
"Bobbi! You're okay! Thank goodness." He made his way over to her carefully. "Did you see Clint?"
She nodded. "He's under here. I can't lift this beam off of him by myself. And Bucky… he's not breathing."