"Nat, maybe i should fly for a bit." Clint moaned from the passenger seat. "You seem, I dunno... Distracted?"

Natasha's grip tightened on the controls. "Barton, I swear to god you had better shut up. I'm not letting you at the wheel and you know why."

Clint rolled his eyes and settled back into the seat, clasping his hands behind his head. "Why again?" he yawned lazily. "Oh yeah. Is it because I "accidentally" blew up one of Fury's jets?"

Natasha didn't even bother replying. She kept her eyes focused in front of her.

"Nat, you know that's bull. There's absolutely no proof that I was the one who blew it up." Her friend wheedled.

"Oh, so you want proof now? How about where you left your personal signature behind? You know the one. An arrow with a purple shaft?"

Clint abruptly decided to change the subject. "I know why you're so grumpy." he said with a smirk. "It's because you're worried about your boyfriend." he snickered at her expense.

Natasha gave Clint a spiteful look. "Clint you moron, this has nothing to do with me or Dr. Banner. It's just... I have bad memories of being in Russia," she finished softly. That was their destination after all. The two spies were after a certain dealer who specialized in children. It brought back too many painful memories.

That took the stupid grin off of Clint's face. "Oh... I didn't think of it that way."

Uncomfortable silence stretched between them. Clint hated it when Natasha was upset. He never knew what to do or what to say. She was the tough one. He was the goofy one. How was he supposed to comfort someone who was apparently made of stone?

Something flashed on the radar screen. It looked big, way too big. Clint was surprised that he hadn't noticed it before. "Uh, Nat?" The jet shook and juddered, hitting a rough patch of turbulence. Clint was nearly knocked out of his seat.

"What's that?" Clint leaned over Natasha's chair to point at the flashing radar.

"What do you mean 'what's that'?! Clint that's the radar and for the love of God sit down in your seat!" As if to emphasize Natasha's point the jet gave another violent shudder as they hit more turbulence.

Clint sighed loudly and obliged. "No, Nat," he muttered. "I meant, what the hell is that thing that we're about to hit?"

Natasha glanced at the radar, then checked again. There was a huge obstruction that they were supposedly heading for, but looking out the windshield all she could see was a stormy winter sky. "Screen must be messed up," she offered by way of explanation. Natasha didn't sound convinced of it though.

The jet rocked and jerked. Natasha was having enough trouble as it was just to keep the bird on course.

"You'd better buckle up Clint! This is gonna be a bumpy ride!"

The engine roared, complaining loudly of the stress it was being put through. Clint buckled himself in and took the co-pilot's wheel. Natasha put the headphones in and tried for a signal. All she got was static.

"This is Quinjet 709A we are requesting landing space. I repeat: This is Quinjet 709A we are requesting landing space." The dry sound of static was her only reply. Natasha cursed and threw the headphones to the floor.

"Nat..." Barton said warningly.

"What? God Clint I need a minute to think." she snapped. "We must be in the worst of the storm. Hopefully we'll get through it soon."`

The clouds were dark and roiling. Purple lightning streaked across the sky in an erratic array of chaos. The stormclouds surged and rolled, then began swirling together.

"Natasha! It's the eye of the storm!" Clint yelled above the roar of the hurricane all around them.

"I can see that BARTON!"

Without warning the jet got swept up into the flow of the tempest. Rain lashed the sides of the jet and streamed down the face of the windshield. They couldn't see a thing.

"Clint, I-" Natasha strained, pulling hard on the lever to no avail. They were getting sucked straight in. "I'M LOSING CONTROL OF THE JET!"

The Quinjet rolled and spun every which way. The power flickered once and then died completely.

"Son of a bitch."

A/N: Please read and review :)