Hello everyone! Sorry this was so late, I was at camp and the internet sucked. it was almost nonexistent. And while I'm apologizing, sorry the chapter is short, I was rushing to get it up for you guys. So... I hope you like it!
Natasha awoke with a start. The last thing she remembered was dragging Clint's unconscious body from an underground base in Bulgaria before she passed out from blood loss. He had been sporting a gunshot to the abdomen and a concussion, while Natasha was dealing with multiple knife wounds.
Clint.
She looked to her left to see Clint laying in a hospital bed similar to hers. Good. They had been put in the same room this time. Quickly looking at the readings from the machines he was hooked up to, she let out a sigh of relief. He was going to be fine. They could break out of SHIELD Medical as soon as he woke up.
Then the memories came. The torture, physical and mental, that they had been subjected to during their latest mission. The near death risks they took for each other, seeing their fellow agents die, and almost losing one another. Over and over, a cycle that ended only in death.
Next to her, Clint opened his eyes. Natasha knew instantly that his thoughts were as horror-filled as hers. They were both in bad physical shape and worse mental. Clint gave her a weak smile, which she didn't have the strength to return. He reached across the space in between their beds and put a hand on her shoulder. Natasha leaned into his touch, and they sat like that for a few minutes.
'Will you be okay?"
"Yeah. "You?"
"Yeah."
And they would. It would take time and be full of pain, but they would recover. They always did. Their job required that of them, so they would do it until it killed them. They would help each other to heal, taking turns fighting their demons. They would help each other remember what it was like to love, and be loved.