She was still sitting in a chair by his bed in the S.H.I.E.L.D. medical bay sixteen hours and forty-two minutes later when he opened his eyes for the first time. "Hey," she said, with a slightly tearful smile on her face.
"Hey," he croaked, his throat hoarse.
She handed him a glass of water. "Are you in a lot of pain?"
He shook his head. "Not a lot."
She threw her arms around his neck carefully, and he eagerly pulled her close against his body. "How's your leg?"
"It's fine," she said. "How's your… everything?"
He chuckled softly. "I suppose I've been better. But then again, I've been worse too, so…"
"Well, you look like hell."
He shrugged. "Not everyone has a superhuman healing factor."
"Clint, I'm sorry about the last thing I said to you."
"There's no need to be sorry, Tash. We're fine. As usual."
She shook her head. "But that could've been the last thing I ever said to you, and I don't want us to fight."
He pushed himself up onto his elbow. "Since when are you so existentialist? Baby, if you're worried about the very last thing we do, in this business, then you better join me in this bed so I can give you something worth remembering."
She punched him in the arm. "Is that all you think about?"
"Uh, ever since the heavy make-out sessions restarted? Yeah!"
She took his hand, laced her fingers through his. "I called Stephen Strange. I'm going by his office later today. Bucky and Steve are coming with me."
He winced. "Barnes knows I told you?"
She waved her hand. "It's fine. Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Are you afraid that I'll still have feelings for him after I remember?"
He took a deep breath, exhaled loudly. "Is that something you're afraid of?"
"I don't know. I don't want things to change between us."
He patted her hand. "We'll be fine, I promise."
"Clint, I don't want to hurt you. We've been many things to each other over the years."
"And we'll be many more. I'll still be right here. However you want me."
She nodded, leaning further into him.
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"No," she said softly. "This is something I think I have to do on my own."
He swallowed hard.
"Do you need anything from me before I go? Another glass of water?"
He shook his head. "Just let me hold you for a few more minutes."
She rested her head against his chest, and he placed a soft kiss at her temple, his fingers slowly stroking her hair, all the while knowing that she could feel his heartbeat pounding furiously and that it scared her to know that he was afraid.
XXXXX
Steve paused in the hallway outside of Bucky's temp quarters at S.H.I.E.L.D. "I've got to get back to work. Are you two going to be okay?"
Natasha nodded slowly.
"Alright, then." He briefly gripped Bucky's shoulder. "See you."
Bucky shifted his feet. "If you need some time before we talk about this…"
"No," she whispered, shaking her head.
He sighed, lowering his eyes to the floor. "We probably should've done this in the first place."
"But you didn't."
He looked up at her. "Nat—"
"James… you walked away from me? "
"I couldn't… I just… I needed you to be okay."
"I wasn't okay, James!"
He nodded. "I know, that no amount of apologizing is going to fix this."
She shook her head. "You don't have to explain. I know why you did it. I know how you think."
"We've always understood each other," he said quietly.
"He didn't just take me away from you. He took you away from me too. Where is he? Where's Novokov now?"
"At the Raft. But Nat, if you need to go curse him out, then please, let's do it together."
She kept her mouth set in a line. "As satisfying as it would be to kick him in the face, I just want him to know that he didn't win."
Bucky nodded. "Can I come with you?"
"Yeah, I think you should."