"You'll be fine in a few weeks, but I'm afraid to say that your broken arm isn't the only problem at the moment," the doctor replied, looking at his clipboard intently.

"I'm sorry to say that you'll have to stay here for a while," he smiled almost apologetically at his patient. "If you behave, you'll get out here soon enough," he replied gently before leaving the room.

Natasha cursed in Russian. How could she be stuck in a bed for two weeks? It was almost a form of torture. She groaned, sinking into the soft pillow provided for her. It would mean no missions for at least a month!

"Well I guess this is the itsy bitsy spider's web?" a loud voice came from the hallway. She gave another groan, showing her disdain for that one voice's owner. Tony was the first to show his face, peeking in from the side of the door. The rest of them; Thor, Steve, and Bruce, popped their heads in for a quick look around the room.

It was almost laughable really, the boys' expressions when they saw her lying on a bed with a cast on her arm. She stifled the smile before greeting them.

"What happened to you, Nattie?" Tony asked curiously, avoiding a swipe from her free hand. He knew that she hated the nicknames, but it only heightened his amusement.

"Nothing really, the mission didn't go as planned," she answered. Looking around at the questioning looks, she smirked. "All right, everything went wrong and hell broke loose when we arrived and I might have been a little careless," she admitted.

"A little careless?" Steve asked skeptically, inspecting the medical papers on the desk next to her bed. "It says you broke you arm in two places and sprained your wrist, as well as twisted your ankle. You also had a bunch of cuts and bruises; one needed stitches too," he raised his eyebrows. "How careless is a 'little,' Nat?" he asked, a slightly smug look on his face.

She rolled her eyes. "We still got the guy and I survived. Shouldn't you be happy?" she answered his pointed look with a sharp retort. Steve put his hands up in a quick surrender. A smirk of amusement lit up her face.

"Well, I'm relieved to see you alive. What would life be without our snappy, short-tempered little assassin? We're all bored when we're not annoying you, Widow," Tony joked, his arm slung around Bruce's shoulder.

"I'm glad you survived as well, fair maiden! This calls for a feast!" Thor's voice boomed loudly. Natasha winced slightly at the loud voice, her smirk growing larger. The rest of the boys chuckled, watching Thor describe the feasts in Asgard animatedly.

It was almost funny how they all ended up keeping in contact, and the Stark Tower became sort of an 'Avengers hang out place.' Though it wasn't much of a 'family,' the Avengers, as a team wasn't so bad after all. It was nice having a group of people wanting her alive for a change. In a way, it was the family she never had, one consisting of mismatched, screwed up, and misguided 'heroes' maybe; or a 'time bomb,' as Bruce called it, but a family nonetheless.

She looked at the four faces surrounding her bed, almost savoring the absurdity of the moment. It was the first time she had seen Thor in normal clothing, and Steve had brought flowers and a get-well card along with him. Tony was being his usual annoying self, and Bruce had brought along a bag. She assumed it was take-out food. It was almost strange to see them without uniforms, looking quite casual.

Not bad for a 'Get Well' party. Not bad at all.

"I hope you like the food we got you," Steve smiled hopefully. He scratched his neck, slightly embarrassed. "We tried to make you cupcakes, but we sort of burned them, so Pepper helped us make some brownies for you. They're in the bag with the take-out," Steve half grimaced, half smiled, his face slightly red with embarrassment.

"We tried to get Robin Hood to tell us what your favorite food was. It wasn't necessary though, since Thor here completely forgot about the oven until two hours later, and we just got you some pasta anyways," Tony chuckled.

She smiled, giving them her thanks, but the thought of Clint crossed her mind. Where was Agent Barton anyway? Was he hurt? He often came to visit her on the rare occasion that she had to stay overnight at the hospital.

He was always the jokester in his own way. She could remember the time when he came in silently, crept up on her and screamed, "Boo!" into her ear and almost gave her a heart attack. There was another time when he came in with flowers and feigned a British accent for the whole day.

For a second, her eyes drifted towards the door, wondering if he was just late as usual.

"Looking for Clint, are you?" Bruce asked kindly, her fleeting glance didn't go unnoticed. She blushed slightly before nodding.

"I just wanted to know if he's alright," she confirmed, keeping her voice neutral.

"Lover boy isn't here, dearie," Tony chuckled. "He's supposed to be next door for a check-up, and he's staying there for a day or two, but we couldn't find him earlier."

"He might be at the debriefing or something," Bruce shrugged, "You know, with Director Fury. I'm sure he'll come visit you soon, right? He was on the rescue team after all."

For the first time, she's not so sure.

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