The heart rate monitor connected to Clint was beeping fast. It was only natural, though. Even through his body wasn't moving, his mind very active. No one in the room had spoken in minutes, but it had felt like years. After all, everyone was watching the screens, half of them holding their breath in anticipation to see what was going to happen.

"He's going to die," Bruce piped up finally, his words almost piercing despite how quiet his voice was. There was more silence.

"He knows," Natasha told them softly, no emotion showing through on her face, her arms tightly crossed and resting on her stomach.

"He knows?" Thor asked, not bothering to look at her, his eyes glued to the screen.

"Of course he knows," Tony said, almost rolling his eyes. "How could he not know? The rest of us gone, and he's fighting the thing using a mop?"

"That's more than any of us had," Steve pointed out, grimacing slightly as Clint was flung across the room and into a wall.

"Well, luckily, this'll all be over soon, and we'll all be able to leave," Tony commented, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"I guess you're right,? Steve sighed softly. "Still…"

"You were never going to let me go," Clint said, his hand finding his mop after having dropped it.

"Figured that outttt, have youuuu?" The Vidunder cackled, stepping towards Clint.

"I mean it didn't really take a genius," Tony crossed his arms, immediately being shushed by Bruce.

Slowly getting to his feet, Clint used the wall to help him take a running start at the creature, missing on purpose before hitting it again square in the back. Hissing loudly, the Vidunder backhanded Clint with a force that sent him flying a second time.

"Oooh, that probably stings a little," Steve said, making a face.

"Time'ssssss up, Clint Barton…" Skidding and rolling across the floor, Clint couldn't stop coughing, eventually finding blood splattered on his arm and hand from the coughing fit. Finally snapping, he looked from the creature to the mop, a wild look in his eyes. Clumsily and as quickly as he could manage, he scrambled to his feet and ran to grab the broom again.

"What's he-" Tasha began, her eyes squinting slightly as the beeping in the room became even quicker.

"I'll see you in hell," Clint said harshly before taking the hilt of the mop and ramming it as hard as he could through one of his eye sockets.

"-d..doing…" Tasha's eyes widened and Bruce gasped softly. Almost immediately the rapid beeping turned into a single note, causing everyone's heads to snap in the direction of Clint's pod. The final screen turned to static as several people rushed into the room. "Clint?" Tasha asked immediately, not expecting a response, but still praying she'd get one.

"Hold on a minute-!' Steve yelled above the new people in the room and the static noise that was now playing through the speakers. "I thought this was supposed to be safe?!"

"What's going on?!" Thor jumped up from where he had been sitting in his own pod.

"Sir, you need to move out of the way," one of the new people told Thor firmly, placing a hand in front of his chest. "Sir, please, move out of the way, we need to get through here."

More people rushed into the room, unplugging things and plugging them into new places and eventually quickly wheeling Clint's entire pod out of the room.

"Hey, wait!" Steve shouted as he followed after them, Thor, Tony and Bruce quickly tailing behind. After a few seconds, only Natasha remained in the room, silent and unmoving: barely even blinking. Eventually her eyes slowly moved from the static screen to the spot Clint's pod had been and then even slower across the room. Slowly sliding back more to fully sit on her pod, she sat in silence, not wanting to know what was happening to Clint, not even really wanting to know if her best friend was alive. What if he wasn't? What would she do? Would she stay with SHIELD? With the Avengers? She had no idea.

It was hours before someone finally came back into the room.

"There you are," Steve said quietly, walking up to where she was still sat. "He's okay. Tasha, Clint's alright." He sounded exhausted, but genuinely relieved, so he was probably telling the truth.

"Is he?" Natasha asked, her voice cracking slightly from not being used for so long.

"Why don't you come and see him? He's been asleep for a little while, but he might wake up for you…" Staring forwards at the floor, Natasha slowly nodded her head and slid off of the pod, walking to the door, Steve immediately behind her. As they left the room empty, neither of them saw the Vidunder, standing in the corner next to the final screen as it finally shut off, a grin stretched across its face.

"Natasha!" Bolting upright in bed, Clint gasped softly, clutching his chest tightly. His eyes wide, he looked around quickly, seeing Tasha stirring softly from her sleep and opening her eyes to look at him. What started as a soft confusion almost immediately sobered into a look of recognition as she sat up quickly, one hand going to Clint's back, the other finding of his hands.

"Clint?" Her voice was soft and tender as she watched him, her other hand rubbing his back slowly. "Clint, it was just another nightmare, okay? You're awake, you're okay, you're safe…" Natasha repeated quietly over and over as he leaned against her, slowly letting himself relax. It had been three months since that damned simulation. Three months. Shouldn't he be over it by now? Over the nightmares, over the uneasy feelings? Sometimes when he was alone, he could swear he'd still catch glimpses of the Vidunder around the corner or just outside a window.

"I keep… I keep just seeing you. I keep seeing you lying there on the ground with a hole in your head I keep seeing that thing I just…" Groaning softly, he let his eyes close again. "I just want this shit to stop."

"I know you do, Clint," Tasha sighed softly, her warm breath hitting his neck gently as she continued rubbing his back. "I know."

"You're sure you're ready to do this?" Tasha asked quietly as she made her way with Clint to the simulation center.

"Tasha, it's been half a year," Clint gave her a goofy smile as they turned a corner. "I'll be fiiiine. Besides, we got to pick what we were doing this time, remember? There won't even be a horror aspect to it."

"I guess…"

"And," Clint gestured by pointing upwards slightly. "And this time, we'll know it's a simulation."

"Not while we're inside of it," Tasha reminded him, her eyebrows raised as she stuck her hands in her sweatshirt pockets.

"Okay, fair," Clint shook his head. "But anyway, this time when we come to, we won't want to kill Fury for somehow kidnapping us and forcing us into those pods."

"Yeah, how did you do that again, Nick?" Tony asked, continuing Clint's thought as they walked into the room.

"That information is on a 'need-to-know' basis only," Fury told them, gesturing to the pods. "And now that everyone's here, we can get started."

"You guys are late," Steve pointed out to Tasha and Clint with a sly smirk.

"Alright," Fury began, holding a clipboard and looking it over. "This will be a training exercise to see what you'll be willing to do when faced with difficult situations. The simulation will take you back in time to the Civil War era in America's history. Each of you will be randomly assigned a rank in either the Confederate or Union army. You will have no control which team you're on, you will have no control which rank you are given. All you need to do is fight until the battle is won. The battle you will be fighting in is the Battle of Gettysburg. This battle lasted 3 days, so try not to die on the first day; I don't want to listen to anyone complaining about how bored they are for three days."

"Okay, but isn't this unfair?" Tony crossed his arms, a scowl on his face. "That battle was won by the Union, so whoever's on the Confederate side is obviously going to lose."

"The history of the battle won't determine the outcome of the winner in the simulation. So it's anyone's battle to win," Fury told him, raising his eyebrow. "Anyone else have any questions?"

"This one won't be scary, will it?" Bruce asked almost timidly.

"No."

"Will we have our weapons with us in battle?"

"In this simulation, it was decided that everyone will be equally matched," Fury looked between everyone standing around him. "So that means no powers, no hulk, no special weapons, no tech…"

"Wait," Steve piped in nervously. "What about-"

"We're not going to revert you back to what you were before the serum," Fury assured him. "But you will be taken down to the strength and speed of the average man."

"Okay, good," Steve nodded, clearly relieved.

"If there are no other questions, everyone find their pod," Fury nodded to the pods and waited for everyone to lay in their pods. "Going in simulation in 3…" The lids to the pods shut and sealed. "2… 1. Good luck."

First of all, I just wanted to thank every single one of you for reading this! Whether it was from the very beginning or you just found it now. It really means so much to me :)

Second! Yes, there will be a second story! I've decided on the theme (totally not because of the film coming out, I swear) and have also decided I'll stick with the horror theme for it. So make sure you stay tuned (especially if you liked this story) and watch for that! It doesn't have a name yet, but I'll be starting on the first chapter of it very very soon.

Again, thank you all so much, and I wish you all the best! -E