AN: Hey everyone. Let me start by thanking MegaDiary123 for beta-ing this and all chapters. Also, I need to inform you that until further notice I will be uploading once a week and trying my best to stick to that. Really sorry, it's been a weird couple of weeks with the university and I hope I'll have more time and mental energy to write more during the winter break.

All rights go to Marvel

Natasha's POV

After persuading Dr. Banner to come in, a trained team and I escorted him back at the Helicarrier, where the base of our operation was. Clint, though he had already arrived, was still being debriefed about exactly what went down at the mission with Skye, so I had yet to see him and ask for myself. I got word from Maria to find Coulson, who brought in Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, and bring him inside so I had just left to go outside and greet him. The war hero and the agent exited the plane they came with and that was when Coulson saw me.

"Agent Romanoff" he said looking at me and then he turned to his idol, "Captain Rogers"

I could tell from that stupid smile on his face that he had the time of his life, being so close to someone he has looked up to all his life and that he was struggling to keep his serious, second-in-command persona with him around.

"Ma'am" the Captain greeted with his old fashioned habits still in place.

"Hi" I briefly said before turning to Coulson. "They need you on the bridge, they are starting face-trace" I said going straight into the point and his smile disappeared as he focused back on work and walked in the computer room.

That's how I was left with Rogers who looked exactly like a fish out of water. So, to make him feel a bit more comfortable I started talking. "It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice" I looked at him and his face said it all. How much he would like to forget, how unhappy he was with how everything turned out. "I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" I went for a lighter topic and I instantly saw him relax.

"Trading cards?"

"They're vintage. He's very proud" I still remembered the day when he collected the final card and how proud he was of such a "feat", as he had then called it.

As we were walking towards the edge of the outside platform, we bumped into Banner who was looking around. Before I had a chance to call him, the Captain did so first and they started talking. I stayed back and was looking at them, when I heard Clint through my earpiece.

"Natasha, we are ready for take off. Take our guests and come in" he said.

"Roger that" I said back and moved towards the two men who had already started a proper conversation.

When we went inside, I let the boys talk with Fury and look around as I went to one of the screens that was doing facial recognition for Skye.

"Agent Romanoff" I heard someone say from behind me and I would recognise his voice anywhere.

"Agent Barton" I replied and turned around to see him coming closer. Referring to each other with our surnames was a silent agreement when we were surrounded by other agents. The moment we were alone though this changed. "We have a few things we need to discuss" I said, with no trace of warmth in my voice.

"Yes we do" I could hear the strain in his voice but didn't react to it. I just kept a straight face and looked back at the monitor with Skye's face on it.

"Agent Romanoff" I heard Fury said and immediately stood up from where I was crouching. "Agent Barton…" he said the second name a bit slower, as if just deciding whether he actually wanted him to do something or not. "Could you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please?"

With a curt nob I walked past Fury with Clint. "You're gonna love it Doc. We got all the toys" I said as I took him towards his lab.

"Really?", he questioned. "Do you have…" after that he said something. I really didn't catch that and I had low hopes that even if I understood the words, I would know what they were.

"I'm not sure…" I started but Banner stopped me.

"Oh… you're very young" he said in a matter-of-fact way. I was the one that had been through enough in my life and here was Banner telling me otherwise. We talked a bit on the way to the lab, trying to take his mind off the agents that were lurking in every corner and by the time we reached our destination I could see how more relaxed he was when he went into a familiar, for him, environment. He started moving machines all over the lab and he began his work into trying to trace the gamma radiation from the Tesseract.

With that taken care of, I walked off the room with Clint right beside me, who had not spoken at all during my interaction with the other man. Once the door was closed and I checked that there were no agents around I span around and my fist found Clint's jaw straight on.

Clearly not expecting that, Clint fell on his back before quickly getting up. One hand was on his bruising jaw and the other on his hip. "Okay… I guess I deserved that" he dared to say.

"You guess you deserve that?" I questioned and closed in on him.

He actually took a couple of steps back when he saw the look in my eyes. "Natasha…" he warned quietly.

"Oh don't 'Natasha' me" I threw back. I had stopped my advances but was still only a few inches away from him, inclining my head back to look at him straight in the eye. I had kept my cool long enough while Banner was around but it was time that Clinton here got the scolding I had saved for him since we hang up after my mission with Georgi. "You. Idiot!" I said and with every word I poked his chest. "How could you lose her? When did she even become a freaking agent?!" I screamed at his face.

"We both know that she could have become an agent a long time ago. She was ready" he answered avoiding my first question completely.

I scoffed at his answer. "Apparently not ready enough" I threw back. "If it was up to me she wouldn't be out in the field so soon"

"No, if it was up to you she would never see the field" he said and we both knew that it was true. "If you could you would have her locked away to keep her safe, but thank God it was not up to you. Because it was up to Skye. She knew what she was getting into even when she joined the Academy all those years ago. And, yeah. She was ready. She is ready" he spoke, his voice never rising too much but I could feel all his frustration underneath it nonetheless. "Do you want to know how I know she is ready?", he questioned when I clicked my tongue. "Because she didn't kill Fury. She. Did. Not. She could have shot him in the head and I am sure that the control that Loki had over her told her to kill the director. But she didn't. She shot at his vest, which she knew he was wearing because this is protocol. Because I trained her. I was there when it happened and I feel bad even without you pointing it out, so please. Spare me with your judgement and focus on finding our girl and bringing her home!"

The seconds seemed to stretch as neither of us spoke and the corridor was filled with the uneven breaths that Clint was taking. The staring contest and silent conversation that we had seemed to die down and eventually the guy let out a deep sigh and hung his head.

"It's on me, alright?" He said and pointed at himself. "It's me who lost her, it was me who decided not to try and get her back and who made sure Fury was safe". He raised his head and looked at me in the eyes, and all that guilt that dripped in his voice was clear as day in his gaze as well. "You want to get a room and take all your frustration on me, do so, because all of this is my fault. And, honestly, if I were in her shoes I am not sure whether I would have been able to escape Loki or not"

"Don't say that" I spoke after his final confession.

"I believe that though. I trained her Natasha. Hell, even before that she got training from Melinda, Maria and you. If she was taken so easily I am not sure I would share a different fate"

It had taken a toll on him. This situation was straining him and he was trying to keep it together, but that strong facade that he must have worn since he got back was starting to break down. I was still angry, don't think otherwise. But I could sympathise with this helpless feeling that was sinking in Clint, I had felt it numerous times in the past both while looking for Skye and after I found her.

I chose my next words really carefully. Screaming or yelling at him would do us no good right now and we both had to keep it together. The more we focused the sooner we would find my сестра, I thought and my thoughts were cut short as I silently cursed. I hadn't spoken, let alone think in Russian and I had to take a deep breath to calm myself down. "I trust you Clint" I said and he lifted his face to look at me. He knew how hard it was for me to say those words and how few people had heard me pronounce those words. "If you say so then it's true. But that means that we are facing an even bigger threat than we expected and we have a really hard road ahead of us. So you better pull yourself together because if you don't and Skye slips through our fingers because of you…" I didn't finish that sentence. Not that I needed to either way. The message was sent and with a curt nod I took off to the bridge and where the facial recognition system was still trying to locate Loki.