Chapter 19: The Threats

Natasha was on the helicarrier with Fury. She was dressed in a pair of calf-high boots, black jeans, a red tank top, and Clint's plaid shirt that was in their room. She was walking through the halls with him. "The Red Guardian came in, attacked us in our own home. I have no idea where they could've taken him," she told Fury.

"What exactly does he want?" Fury asked.

"Me," Natasha replied.

Bobbi glared at her. "Then why don't we just give the Red Guardian what he wants? Trade Natasha for Clint?" she suggested.

"We can't do that, we won't do that. Even if we did hand Natasha over to them, how can we be sure that they will let Clint go?" Fury asked.

Bobbi was silent and Natasha gave the blond a slight glare. "Besides, if we did that Barton would only have us hunt them down," Fury added.

Wherever Clint was, he woke up on a cold, concrete floor. "About time you woke up," Alexei commented. Clint tried to move, but then realized his hands were chained above his head. He wasn't on the floor, he was chained to the wall. "Sleep well?" Alexei sneered.

"I would've slept better if I had a pillow," Clint answered sarcastically.

Alexei paced in front of the man. "Why don't you just tell me where Natalia ran?" he asked.

"Hate to break it to you, Lex, but I'm not telling you jack shit," Clint answered.

Alexei punched Clint in the face. The agent's head jerked, but he just scoffed. "Ouch," he said sarcastically.

"Tell me where she is," he snapped.

"No," Clint answered, "Natasha won't come to me either, even if I am her weakness. She won't come to you."

"Is that so?" Alexei asked.

Suddenly, the door opened and the sound of heels clicked across the floor. A woman stood in the doorway, a tall woman with long blond hair and bright blue eyes. She stood in the same catsuit Natasha used to wear. "This is Yelena, Natalia's replacement," Alexei stated. Yelena smirked as she looked at Clint.

"It's a pleasure," she answered.

She walked over, her hand moving along Clint's chest. "Hmm…so handsome…I can see why Natalia betrayed Russia," she commented. Clint stared at the far wall, his face blank.

"Don't do too much for him, Yelena. We need him to talk," Alexei told her.

"I won't do much yet," she answered.

Clint just let out a deep breath, closing his eyes as Yelena continued to caress his torso.

Back in New York, Natasha was changing Gabriel. The baby was fussing a bit, but no more than usual. "I know, your least favorite moment, sorry kiddo," she told her son. She picked him up, turning around she saw Bobbi there. "How nice to know that you're willing to throw me under the bus," she said to the blond.

"I don't see why Clint has to be punished for your past," Bobbi answered.

"Clint offered himself, they were going to take me, Clint begged them NOT to," she snapped.

She rubbed Gabriel's back. "I don't even want to think about what they're doing to him," she added.

Back in the bunker, Clint had blood leaking from his mouth from biting his tongue. "Well, I have to say, this one is a tough one," Alexei commented. Clint was hanging in the middle of a room wearing nothing but his boxer briefs. Water was falling over his head consistently. Clint spat blood on the floor as he was trying to catch his breath. "We'll get you to talk, Hawkeye," Alexei commented. Clint lifted his head spitting more water and blood into Alexei's face as an answer. Alexei had a sponge in his hand, attached to that sponge was a jumper cable attached to a car battery. "Where did Natalia go?" he ordered. Clint just glared at him.

"Don't hurt him too much, Alexei, I want to play with him later," Yelena told him.

"He won't be permanently damaged," Alexei answered, "Tell me where Natalia is."

"Bite me," Clint told him.

Alexei's answer was pressing the sponge to his chest. Clint's body started jolting as he fought to scream in agony, but he this time he couldn't stop the shout that escaped his throat from the pain. "That's what I like to hear, my prey finally cooperating," he sneered.

"You hit me with electricity, that's not cooperating," Clint told him as he was trying to catch his breath again.

"I hope you're recording this, Yelena," Alexei told her.

"Yes, yes," she answered, sounding bored.

"Tell me where Natalia is with your brats," Alexei ordered.

"Go. To. Hell!" Clint answered.

"I'll stop if you just hint something," Alexei told him.

Clint just smirked and he jumped up, kicking Alexei in the chest as his answer. "You hate the fact Natalia only wanted me, never you. You married her, you raped her, you brainwashed her but she wasn't me," Clint told him, "You hate that Natalia is happy, she smiles because of me!" Alexei glared at Clint and reached for the knife in his boot. "You hate that when you watched me making love to her that she screamed MY name!" Clint added. Clint just laughed at the man. "You hate that she got pregnant, you hate that she gave birth to MY son, mine," he taunted Alexei.

Alexei stormed up, his knife aimed right at Clint's throat. "Obviously, Alexei, your scare tactics aren't working," Yelena said with a sigh.

"You think you can do a better job?" he demanded.

"I have done a better job," she answered.

She walked over and wrapped her arms around Clint's torso. "I'm curious, does Natalia's skin feel rough like sandpaper when you touch them because of all the hard work she does or are they soft like mine?" she asked as she moved her hands along his torso. "Does she smell of your farm or honey like me?" she purred into his ear. She stood in front of the archer. "Is her body marred with ugly scars including the scars of when she gave birth twice? Or is it flawless like mine?" she asked as her robe fell open.

"Sorry hot stuff, not into blonds," he answered, "And from what I see you're not even a real blond."

Yelena just stood in front of him, her hand caressing his chest. "What if I dye it red? Will it make you want me then?" she asked. Clint jerked his head away. She leaned forward until her lips were brushing against his hear. "You'll want me in the end, soon, my touch is the only one you'll want. You'll beg for it, plead for it, bargain for it," she whispered. She blew against his ear before letting him go. Alexei smirked to see that Clint was a bit disturbed by whatever she had said. The archer lifted his head, looking at her.

"In your dreams, sweetheart," he sneered.

"Soon my dreams will be reality," she answered as she tied her robe back up.

Yelena grabbed him by the sides of his neck and forced her lips over his. Alexei watched as Clint's fists clenched tightly that he could see some blood slide down his palms.

On the base, Natasha was getting Lily to bed. She stroked her daughter's hair as the little girl snuggled up with her stuffed hawk. "Mommy, is daddy coming home soon?" she asked. Natasha felt tears press against her eyes, but she fought them.

"Yeah, sweetheart, daddy will be home as soon as he can," she assured her, "Okay?"

Lily nodded and Natasha kissed her forehead. "Get some sleep munchkin," she whispered. Natasha got up and left the room, her arms crossed over her midsection as she lowered her head with a shaky breath.

In his office, Fury was watching video that had been sent through SHIELD transmissions. Anyone could see this. Fury watched as the Red Guardian tortured Clint while the woman was forcing herself on him to get information. "Turn it off," he ordered when he saw the woman's hand going to Clint's boxer briefs, "Delete it, make sure Romanoff doesn't see this."

"What do we do?" Coulson asked.

"We keep Natasha in the dark. If she sees what they're doing to him she'll turn herself over," Fury answered.

"We can't leave Barton there," Coulson told him.

"We don't even know where there is, Coulson," Fury answered.

Maria deleted the video, feeling disgusted with what was happening to her friend. She saw Bobbi standing there. "He's going through this because he would rather go through this than let anyone touch her again," she told Bobbi coldly.

"He shouldn't have to," Bobbi said angrily.

"Stop it," Maria snapped.

Bobbi stared at her. "Stop it with your childish high school cry me a river games!" Maria snapped. The room was silent. "We were all part of the same class. I'll admit, I thought Clint Barton was the hottest trainee that joined SHIELD especially when he started using that bow. It's hard not to like him, Clint Barton's a lot of things. What you aren't, Bobbi, is a friend. You belittled his marriage to Olivia, you only cared about her death because of what it did to him!" Maria told her, "Then Natasha came into his and Lily's lives, he was happy again. We haven't seen him laugh or smile like that in years!" Maria glared at her. "He doesn't fear death, he fears losing his family," she told he, "And as a friend, you should care about taking care of his family, because Natasha's already falling apart without him!" Maria looked at Fury. "Sir, permission to check on Natasha?" she asked. Fury nodded and Maria left the room.

Maria walked down the hall to find Natasha sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around herself with tears in her eyes. The SHIELD Agent sat beside the assassin. "Why are you here?" Natasha asked.

"For anything," Maria replied.

Natasha suddenly moved over, resting her head on Maria's shoulder. "They're going to kill him before we can reach him," she whispered.

"No, they won't," Maria assured her, "We won't let it happen."

Natasha lowered her head and she let out a sob and Maria hugged her gently as the redhead cried.