I know, I know. It's been forever. I've just been so crazy busy and I got sidetracked with a M rated Christmas fanfiction that I posted on A03 called I'll be Home for Christmas.
I was also having trouble with the beginning of this chapter, I actually had Clint and Natasha's part written a long time ago but I could not get the first part right. I'm still not 100% happy with the beginning but here it is.
The drive back to Los Angeles was done in silence, both of them focused on what the next twenty-four hours would hold for them.
Once they arrived at Stark Towers LA, the team boarded a copter that flew them to a private airstrip where a SHIELD jet was waiting for them.
Clint shot Tony a look and he just shrugged and said, "What? I borrowed it. We're already on their bad side."
Steve and Clint piloted the jet while Thor, Bruce, and Natasha rode in the back and Tony flew alongside in his Iron Man suit, communicating with the rest of the team through the radio. Clint was impressed at Steve's piloting skills, it hadn't taken him long to learn the modern instruments.
Clint felt at ease piloting the jet, it was almost easier to him than driving but he couldn't shake a slight sense of apprehension. He knew it wasn't from the prospect of facing Loki, he was ready for that, it was about something else, something he needed to take care of.
"Natasha," He said suddenly over the headset.
"What?"
"Marry me?" he asked, eyes flicking away from the window, looking in her direction.
"What?" she said in a stunned voice, "But we're…"
"Yeah!" Tony's voice cut in, "Aren't you guys already-"
"For real this time," he replied, returning his gaze to the front, "With rings and a ceremony and a marriage license and you taking my last name."
Although he couldn't see her, he could sense that she was stunned into incredulous silence so he went on, trying to postpone what he was afraid would be a negative answer.
"We can do it wherever and however you want to: big, small, indoor, outdoor, I don't care, I'm really just tired of hiding, Nat, I want everyone to know that we're together, that I'm yours and you're mine." He turned around and glanced back at her, "So what do you say? Will you marry me? For real?"
"Of course you idiot," she whispered, eyes wide and shining, "You know my answer is always yes."
Clint's lips curled up into a smile. Steve patted his shoulder hard, a huge grin on his face as the rest of the team shouted congratulations.
They were heading to a small airport in West Texas that Tony had arranged for ahead of time, an arrangement that no doubt included a huge amount of money as the place was pretty much deserted when they got there and there were two jeeps waiting and stocked with supplies.
The first thing Clint did upon landing the jet was tear off his headset and rush to Natasha, planting a huge kiss on her lips, something he'd been waiting to do since she'd said yes.
"Jeez," Tony said, touching down in his suit, "Isn't it November? Its hotter than hell here."
"Isn't that thing climate controlled yet?" Natasha asked, throwing her weapons pack into the back of one of the jeeps.
"Welcome to Texas," Bruce said, climbing into the passenger seat of the jeeps.
"Spend some time here?" Clint took a seat in the driver's side.
"A little bit," Bruce replied, his eyes narrowing at a memory.
Natasha, Clint, and Steve climbed into the one jeep while Bruce and Thor took the other and they set out for the location the coordinates had mapped out.
"You were right," Clint said over the headset communicators they had one, "This place is remote." They hadn't passed a single car or seen any sign of civilization the entire time.
As the mountain range they were heading to came closer into view, Clint looked over at Natasha, she was biting on her lip but smiling softly and he took one hand off the steering wheel and put it over hers, squeezing softly before turning back to the drive, the mountains right in front of them as he saw they had reached their destination.
The opening to the cave Tony's coordinates led them to didn't look menacing but that didn't stop the team from hesitating before they headed inside.
They all knew the enemy they were facing and each knew the stakes of this mission. But it was the more personal to Clint and Natasha.
Tony's masked face turned to the group, "No matter what happens, Clint and Natasha get the kill shot."
Clint saw Thor tense up at this statement, but he remained silent and Clint realized they weren't the only ones with a personal vendetta to settle.
They hadn't taken two steps inside the cave when they were welcomed with gunfire. Tony flew in with his Iron Man suit and began blasting through one of the hallways while Thor heading down another, hammer swinging.
Bruce had hulked out at the first gunshot and he was following Steve down another passageway, knocking men out of his way.
Clint and Natasha were left in the entrance, picking off guards and fighting their way through the melee.
"The beach." She shouted in his direction, trying to be heard above the guns she was firing in the direction of the guards.
"What?" he shouted back, forgoing loading his arrow in his bow to stab it into the heart of one of the guards as the man got too close.
"That's where I want to get married," she said, blowing a curl out of her face before delivering a round house to kick to an approaching guard, "An outdoor wedding at the beach."
"Whatever you want sweetheart," Clint said, directing a half grin in her direction while loping an arrow at the guard approaching from his other side.
They had the area cleared within a minute and took off into the remaining tunnel where they quickly came to a fork.
"We need to split up." Natasha said.
"No." Clint stopped and turned to her.
"We can cover more ground that way."
He shook his head.
"Clint, you know I can take care of myself," She pulled his face towards her and kissed him gently, "Trust me."
He did.
They headed off in opposite directions, Clint walked cautiously, bow raised, but things were eerily quiet. He was expecting massive amounts of guards, or a never-ending stream of Chitauri-like aliens like in New York, but, there was nothing.
The tunnel walls were lit up and reinforced so it was obvious that work had been going on here but it seemed that whatever had been happening had come to an abrupt halt.
A sudden movement to the right of him caught his eye and he turned to catch a flash of black hair.
Loki.
He aimed low and fired his arrow, hitting Loki in the meat of his thigh as the demi-god crashed down, gaping in pain.
Clint approached him, another arrow notched in his bow already as he spoke into his comm device in Russian.
"Natasha, I have him."
He didn't need to hear a reply to know she was on her way.
"Go ahead Barton, take your shot." Loki spat, gaining Clint's full attention again as he turned to lean against the wall, "You've been intending to do it every since our meeting in New Mexico."
Clint was cautious of his movements, not wanting to be hit with any kind of energy or whatever power Loki possessed but the demi-God wasn't making any moves to fight back, he didn't even attempt to pull the arrow out of his leg.
Loki looked up at him like he was reading Clint's thoughts and said, "I won't attempt to fight you. You can finish things as you wish."
"What the hell is going on here?" Clint spat out, furious and confused.
"Can't you tell? They're gone." Loki motioned to the empty tunnel. "As much you earthlings like to keep yourselves in high esteem, there are other planets more desirable than yours."
"What do you mean 'gone'?" Clint took a step closer as he heard footfalls echo down the tunnel. Natasha came panting to his side, guns raised.
"I got help from a cruel race, seeking to take advantage of my ties to the throne of Asgard and the Earth. They move from planet to planet, wiping those they deem a threat out of existence. Earth was an easy target to them, you humans are so fragile and possess no powers, but once down on this miserable planet, they realized that the political strife and disintegrating environment were leading to your inevitable ruin."
"So they left?" Clint asked.
"You are no longer a threat."
Clint grunted, trying not to feel more than a little bit miffed at the insult to his home.
"They not only left, they decided to strip me of my powers for leading them to this wretched excuse of a planet," Loki raised his hand, a gesture to show them he was telling the truth, "Even my Asguardian powers are gone. I'm no more powerful than a mere mortal. So go ahead, Barton, take your revenge. Take the shot."
Loki's gaze flickered to Natasha, his expression remaining motionless as he stared at her.
He was a man with nothing, with two people who represented death. Many had been in the same positions with the assassins, meeting their ending with the same weapons he had pointed at him now.
Clint aimed his arrow and pulled his bowstring back, prepared to take his shot when something made him freeze. He looked to his side and saw Natasha's clear green eyes staring at him. Their gazes locked and they stood still before he nodded in understanding and relaxed his stance, just a bit.
This was her shot.
She should be the one to end this, she was the one who deserved the revenge.
She advanced slowly, guns raised in front of her, her face mixed with emotions as she began to speak.
"You took something from me," she started, eyes locked on Loki, "Something I never knew I always wanted and something that I will miss for the rest of my life." Clint heard her voice waver, minutely, before she went on, "Before that, before I even knew who you were, you tried to take Clint from me but I got him back, I fought for him and I overcame your hold and I got him back. Then we fought together, as a team, and we beat you. And you couldn't stand that, so when I carried a little piece of him in me, you took that instead." Her teeth were clenched as she finished. "What you took from us can't ever be replaced…and I want to kill you for that."
She cocked the hammer of her gun and Clint saw the slight squeeze of her trigger finger.
"You were right, my ledger is red, it's gushing. Nothing can wipe away my past." Then suddenly her finger left the hammer and she relaxed her arms, bringing both weapons down to her side. "But I won't let you wipe out my future."
She leaned her head down to switch on her communication piece, "He's here, Barton and I have him."
Natasha took a step back towards the door, ready to hit the button to let the rest of the team in. Clint could sense a slight movement and he swiftly released the arrow he had been aiming, spearing a surprised Loki through the upper arm and pinning him to the wall.
"Don't move."
Loki gave him a reproaching look, tugging his arm to try and get free.
"I said don't move," Clint said, another arrow already trained at him, "The only reason you're still alive is because of her. You don't know how badly I want to kill you, have wanted to since that first moment you pointed that stick at my chest. My ledger probably has more red on it than hers, you would just be one more smear on it. But she's right, your death can't bring back what you've taken from us. In fact, I think at this point, death would be too easy for you."
Loki's head fell back against the wall in defeat, his eyes black balls of anger, as the sounds from the hall signaled that the rest of the team was approaching.
"We'll deal with you...together." Clint said, as the door opened to the astonished rest of the team.
Okay, one more chapter ought to do it. I have a bare bones outline but school is about to start up again so hopefully I can get it out fast. Thanks for all those who have been sticking with me! Happy New Year.