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Clint's POV

Natasha and I were gearing up, readying ourselves for the impending battle. We were fighting for our fallen friend and for the return of our state of mind. Neither Natasha nor I fought solely for ourselves, we fought to achieve someone's agenda, it's just the way it's always been.

In the quinjet, en route to New York, my heart was softened because of one sentence Natasha spoke to me.

"You know you're an idiot, right?" She gave me quick, almost sad smile but the sarcasm and degradation were definitely there.

I had no choice but to smile at the Natasha I knew, "Yes, yes I do Tasha"

As we entered into the city airspace Nat relayed our location to Stark.

"What, did you stop for drive thru?" Stark retorted. She didn't get a chance for the witty response I knew she was considering.

We were officially in battle, we could only hope to see each other once again.

Natasha's POV

His voice provided assurance, we were fighting but more importantly we were surviving.

Down on the street, I eliminated enemy after enemy with the convenience of the spear an alien not-so-kindly gifted to me. I exchanged between guns and spears, along with any other sort of weapon I could get my hands on. For a brief few minutes I had the pleasure of fighting alongside Barton, everything felt normal. I covered him while he freed a bus of civilians then returned back at my side.

"This is just like Budapest all over again!" Besides the amped up excitement of this battle, it actually had few similarities to Budapest. I said it almost as a reminder of who were, and what we've been through. I wanted to encourage him and uplift him after all he'd just come to terms with death.

"You and I remember Budapest very differently," Clint retorted without a smile. He clearly couldn't look past all the scolding he received in Budapest. He didn't look at my statement for any sort of deeper meaning. I felt foolish for believing that one sentence would somehow have a mysterious calming effect on him. At the same time, his stubborn response warmed me. It was a Clint response, one only he would think of and it solidified that he was okay. For now.

When Bruce arrived, we assembled and became a team. I stayed on the ground with Steve while Clint nested far above me.

At any given moment I would look up and see the exhaustion of my teammates verses the consistent stream of alien soldiers pouring from the sky. We needed a real solution, we were trying to use Band-Aids to cover a bullet wound, and it just wouldn't do.

When I saw Cap, looking less like a super, I informed him that we weren't progressing.

"You're going to need a ride."

I could feel Hawkeye's idiocy rubbing off on me as I looked over my head, "I've got ride."

I backed up, while Steve asked if I sure about this. I almost wanted to laugh at this notion, it was like he was assuming I knew what the outcome would be of this idea. "Yeah, it'll be fun."

It was fun, I'll never deny that. The rush and relief of actually grabbing hold of one of these oversized flying scooters was nearly worth taking my life into my hands. Stark proved helpful as he removed some Chitauri from my tail. Loki, however, seemed to show up at the most impromptu time. I didn't have any real defenses at the moment, I needed a partner.

"Hey Hawkeye!"

"Nat, what are you doing?" Clint's worry would lead to a future lecture about taking better care of myself.

"Uh, a little help!"

"I've got you." He was Clint, of course he did. Through the comms I could hear the release of the arrow. I was nearing the tower when-

"Did Loki just catch the arrow?" I thought to myself, before I was able to actually ask aloud I heard the explosion the behind and I realized what had just happened. I felt like applauding Barton.

I landed on the tower and made my way to the terrace where I found a disturbed . I made a pathetic attempt at comfort.

"It wasn't your fault you didn't know what you were doing."

"Well, actually I think I did. I built in a safety to cut the power source."

"Loki's scepter." I headed down to retrieve it. I wondered how Selvig remembered his actions while controlled. How much did Clint know, was there something he wasn't telling me?

From where I grabbed the scepter I had clear sight of my teammates, namely, Barton. I paused and took note of his dire situation several buildings away. He was using his bow to help fight off some soldiers. That obviously meant he was put of arrows. There were more aliens advancing on his location, Barton always had a trick up his sleeve, he couldn't disappointment me now. And he didn't. With all the dramatics I would expect from Barton he used a stray arrow to swing into the building. The pain he must be in wasn't sitting well with me.

By the time I made it back up to Selvig he was back on his feet peering at his laptop. He gestured for me to puncture the force field. I reported to the Avengers I could close the portal, but Stark stopped me.

All eyes were on Iron Man as he flew into space with a nuke on his back. I heard myself subconsciously wishing he'd make it through before Cap gave me the order to close the hole.

When he did give the command I didn't hesitate to close the sky. There was an overwhelming rush of relief when Tony was spotted. We had won, this crazy plan worked and we accomplished something.

Back in the tower, we reassembled to handle one last matter. I waited anxiously for my partner's arrival. He had to be alive, there was just no other to it. When I saw him I dropped protocol, I even forgot about the Black Widow. I fell into his arms, breaking. We made it.

Loki awoke to a sight even I would consider terrifying.

"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."

SHEILD agents suddenly flooded the living room meanwhile, Hulk began shrinking from exhaustion. We backed away, Clint didn't take his hateful stare away from the villain.

"Alright avengers, food!" Stark directed us towards the exit. I guess that meant we were one of them.

We entered into elevator, Clint still looking back to Loki, now detained and surrounded by agents. I put my hand on his shoulder and wheeled his attention to me. We looked at each, there was no emotion just two assassins that had an exceptionally bad day. If I strained I could still hear the mindless conversation the guys were having, but I settled for blissful ignorance.

Our arrival at the Sharma was met with dumbfounded silence by the employees. We all simply gathered at the largest in tact table.

"We should leave a decent donation toward repairs," Steve insisted. We all nodded in agreement, no one had enough energy to oppose. Except Stark.

"We saved the city, doesn't that count for anything?" I didn't feel like reprimanding his attitude, especially since I knew Steve would rebuke him. They argued about the definition of a decent donation until our food was served. Stark handed the woman a fistful of cash, apparently he'd lost whatever argument he and Cap had. Or possibly he was just being gracious.

I let myself be distracted by my opinions of my teammates while the one that really mattered was sitting next to me. I turned to look at him and he smiled at me. He put his foot on my chair, and playfully tapped my lower back with his shoe. I smiled back, he always made a joke that I sat on the edge of seat.

There was a comfortable silence. We were alright, we were just fine.

So I am begrudgingly including this chapter. I really didn't think I could write this scene to fit justly and I think it doesn't work with my theme. Either way I couldn't not include it so there it is. On a different note, if you have any prompts now would be an excellent time to inform me! Until I get to the events of CA:TWS were going to have Laura, the kids, the farm, and Strike Team: Delta missions! So please let me know if there's something you'd like to see in between. Thank you so very much: