Chapter 30: Clint's Farmhouse

Everything was beginning to feel better by the end of the hour for both ladies. Inessa's head stopped spinning, Natasha was sitting up, and both girl's coloring was nearly back to normal. Clint and Banner sat with them until Inessa moved to the living room couch to try and sleep.

"That was reckless. We could have gotten sedatives from the med suits if you wanted to be knocked out that bad."

Natasha smiled and rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb, "I didn't want to worry everyone, so I kept it quiet. I knew the poison wouldn't kill me anyways."

"Did it at least help? Do you remember him?"

"I do."

"Well?"

"It's not as bad as I was thinking it'd be, but it's not great. A lot more of the same stuff I've always known about. Charles never told you he pinned so much back, did he?"

Clint shook his head with a wry smile, "Cheeky brat only ever said he undid you programming. Gave you a shot. We knew you were good at what you did, we didn't know how old, ancient, and shriveled you are."

Natasha punched him lightly in the arm, ignoring the soreness in her own elbow at the motion. "The man you had Coulson pull out of the church-"

"Your old handler? Thomas- something, right? British dude."

Natasha nodded, "Yeah, my old friend. Albatross."

"Seriously?!" Clint was stunned, "That's- wow. We never even suspected he was anything more than a contact."

She nodded, "Me neither. I haven't thought about that guy in years. Still- we have an advantage now."

"Remember a critical weakness?"

"Not that great of an advantage. I fought alongside Albatross on and off for a long time. I trained with him the first year or two, but I was a child."

"What do you mean?"

"I never aged! I was ten years old, give or take, for decades. They got someone to fix that before I was sold to Hydra."

Clint winced, "Oh, Charles should have left one or two things out in the open..."

"Yeah, might have been helpful knowledge. Anyway, Albatross has never fought me this size," she shrugged, "It might be useful to us. He isn't at a complete advantage."

"Oh, he's still at a complete advantage." Clint clarified, "Just not an all-encompassing one."

"We'll make it," Natasha felt a surge of confidence, from where she couldn't tell, "we always do."

Clint nodded, "We still have time to figure it out at least. Morris still needs to find me an enemy, maybe another one for Sam."

The confidence vanished. "Clint," her voice was low, almost pleading, "he might have someone already. Like you said- an archer or a sniper. Fury wouldn't be able to get an image of them. We can't rely solely on the photographs."

"Nat, what's wrong?" Even as she tried to mask her expression he could see the faintest glimmer of anxiety. "You can tell me anything. What is it?"

"I can't-"

Her nerves were making him anxious, "You know who he got for me, don't you?" he leaned back away from her, distanced himself so his enhanced vision could analyze her face more completely. "Nat, who is it?" she shook her head, trying to sort out her confused brain so she could slam the lid tight on everything. Clint grabbed her hand again, "If the first time I see whoever it is is when I'm fighting them, surprise could kill me. I never go in blind Nat. If I'd known the guy from Belgium was Albatross you know I would have said something. We don't keep secrets, you and I."

"If he's a sniper you won't see him, that's the point."

"You're willing to bet my life on that?" Clint let it hang in the air over their heads. His mind wracked through everyone he knew. When possible, Morris went for personal enemies- he couldn't think of a single one. His enemies tended to die before they even knew his face.

He gave Natasha a full minute to speak. She didn't. "Where are the other photographs?" she just shook her head, jaw locked. Clint nodded, "Inessa?" he called from the study. Banner shook her arm and she rolled over on the couch to look at Clint. "Do you know who Morris got to fight me?"

Yes.

"Nessa, keep quiet." Clint silenced Natasha with a look. She fought her stiff muscles and got to her feet. "Don't drag her into this." she went to the window and yanked up the sill, exposing a gap between the window and the wall.

"Thanks for telling me that's broken."

Natasha retrieved a thin folder marked with her hourglass, identical to the others. She held it against her chest protectively, "Fury told me to never tell you. It was my first mission with SHIELD, we barely trusted each other. We weren't a team yet, let alone... Someone was tracking you, and they made it very clear they'd kill you before you ever knew they were there. I took them down, brought them in... I couldn't tell you. After we started getting closer I hoped I'd never have to."

"So tell me now and we'll deal with it," he whispered. Natasha held out the folder reluctantly, like she was giving him something precious. Or something lethal.

Clint hesitated, then took the folder. He opened it immediately. The blurry man looked painfully familiar, but the mark on his cheek more than anything gave him away. His first kill- a horrific accident. In trying to avenge his mentor's death, he fired an arrow at a petty gang leader. He killed a guard instead. Or at least thought he did.

In a fight to the death, Sebastian Morris had chosen the cruelest opponent- someone he could never willingly hurt. His baby brother.

"Berny?"

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