And the last chapter is here. Thanks for all the reviews and your support. I am working on a sequel, covering the events of the last part of Iron Man 2, Thor and, of course, the Avengers.

This is my first story written completely in English and my first fanfiction, but I enjoyed it. Clint and Natasha are a pleasure to work with and I had the best readers. :-)

This chapter was originally supposed to end with Natasha's last part, but it didn't feel right, so I added Clint at the end.

Thanks for reading and enjoy.

Chapter 16: Mornings

Natasha was keeping herself conscious by sheer willpower. There was a small spot on the tip of her left little finger, that didn't hurt, but everything else did. She was dizzy from the blood loss and she suspected a concussion from when the last Smorph threw her to the crates.

The heavy footsteps outside were getting closer.

She had been thinking for the better part of the night, at least that part when she was conscious, and decided that this was not a bad way to die. They managed to keep the fight away from the civilians and now Dreykov was dead too. Clint avenged them all – Abe and Janet and her own childhood. Her only regret was that it was Sonya, not her, who kissed him in the hotel room. She wanted to know what was it like to kiss a man who is neither a one-night stand nor a target. Just once...

The enemies kicked down the door.

Everybody except Natasha suddenly became very busy. They gave her a small handgun to defend herself but they knew that it was next to pointless. All she wanted was to pass out quietly. She heard more gunfire from outside and it looked like they had some backup now. So that was what Fury meant, when he shouted in the communicator just after Clint's shot.

She saw Clint being thrown back by a bullet that hit his chest. His vest would stop the bullet from going too deep, but he staggered backwards and the soldier that hit him raised his gun again. Natasha picked up hers and found out that she could hit something after all, namely the soldier's neck. She had been aiming for the head, but neck worked just as well.

Clint turned to her, smiled and mouthed Thank you. She returned the smile. You're welcome.

Then, like it was the only thing she had been waiting for, she finally passed out.

XXX

Natasha always hated mornings and getting up in general, but there was nothing worse than waking up after a narcosis with a bullet hole in her body and something that felt like a couple of broken ribs. She groaned and opened her eyes, but squeezed them shut when the light blinded her.

„Bozhe moi," she muttered.

„Good morning to you too," said someone near.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked around to see who it was. There was another bed in the room, occupied by Hill, who was grinning at her. She looked fine, with the exception of her right leg, which was bandaged up to the knee and propped on a tower of pillows.

„What's good about it?"

„You are alive. You have been unconscious for twenty-four hours. Barton has been worried sick," she told her.

„Where is he?" asked Natasha and tried to sit up. Not a good idea, as she learned the hard way. She moaned and fell back on the pillow.

„He is fine, the bullet didn't go too deep. The doctors are trying to keep him in the bed at least until tomorrow, but he's giving them a hard time from what I've heard."

„And the others? Coulson, Fury?"

Hill's face darkened. „Coulson is fine, more or less. Some scratches, of course, but he's walking and talking. And Fury..." she hesitated. „He was standing next to one of the wooden crates when they shot at him. They missed him, hit the crate, and the splinters hit his face. It looks like he's going to lose an eye."

„But he will live?" Natasha made sure.

„Yes, he will live." Hill looked a little calmer as she said it aloud. „Hello again, agent Barton."

Natasha turned her head to the door and saw Coulson pushing a wheelchair. Clint, who looked utterly humiliated, brightened when he saw her.

„Does she still think that she can keep watch?" Clint asked Hill.

„What, you want to take off my clothes again?"

Coulson wanted to push him all the way to Natasha's bed, but Clint stopped him. „I can walk, you know. It's not my fault that the doctors said they won't let me go if I don't act like a cripple." He moved to sit on the edge of her bed. She caught his hand and barely noticed that Coulson went to sit with Hill and was telling her about Fury's health.

„You are an idiot," he told her. „Why did you attack the Smorph with your bare hands?"

„They weren't exactly bare, you know."

„You had to know you didn't have the power to bring it down," he scolded her. „Why?"

„I'll tell you one day," she promised. She was too tired to talk about it. „So the SHIELD came for us?"

„And pulled us out," he nodded. „Just in time too. Have you heard about what happened to Fury?"

She nodded, but she felt sleepy again. Her eyes started to close against her will.

„Get some rest," he told her. „We'll have plenty of time to talk."

She closed her eyes and felt that he swept a strand of hair from her face.

„Still creepy," she mumbled.

„And you still don't mind."

XXX

It was her first day back at the SHIELD base. Officially she was still sick, but she had no place on her own, so she stayed in her room at the Palo Alto base. Clint acted like mother hen all the way from the hospital and he became so annoying that even Coulson snapped in the end. But it was nice to have someone who genuinely cared for her.

Fury, who started to wear an eye patch which earned him a nickname Admiral Nelson, told them that someone else can clean up the mess for a change and ordered them to take a break. They didn't object.

They sat in her room and she knew that Clint was about to ask her something important.

„You promised you'll tell me why did you try to knock out the Smorph," he reminded her.

The desperation from her talk with Dreykov and her fight with Sonya came back. But Clint was going to understand her, she was sure. And he was right, she had promised.

„Because I am just like them – the Smorphs, Irina, Sonya. We are all the same, just weapons. Dreykov told me that I survived the training because I had a natural talent. I was born a killer, Clint, and I can't change that."

She didn't dare to look at him. Maybe she was afraid of what she'd see.

„You were just trying to survive. And later... well, it's the only thing we are good at. What else were you supposed to do if you wanted to eat?"

„We have a lot of skills. We could have used them to live like normal people and we never have. There must be something wrong with us."

„There is. But in Budapest we saved people. We kept the Smorphs where they couldn't hurt any civilians. We stopped Dreykov. No one told us to do that. We decided to do the good thing. I say that as long as we're able to save someone from time to time, we are not all bad, " he smiled.

„It doesn't work like that," she said.

„So let me get this straight. You think that if you do something good, it won't outweigh the bad, but you think that your death will? What kind of logic is that?"

She had to laugh. It was a half-hearted laugh, but it was better than misery. Maybe that was what life was about – not sulking because she didn't have the best but being happy that she was better.

„Fine, no more suicide missions," she promised.

„Of course not. Who would cover my back if not you?"

There was a moment of silence and she realized that she couldn't imagine her life without him. He was the only person in the world that actually meant something to her.

„Maybe you would get Hill for a partner," she joked.

Clint made a face. „She takes orders too seriously. Besides, she has Fury. You didn't see the fuss she made when she found out what happened to him."

Like the fuss you made about me? Does that mean that you have me?

But of course it did. And she had him. It was actually very simple.

„So, what now?" she asked. „There is no Dreykov to hunt..."

„Come on, Nat," Clint smiled. „The world is full of scumbags. Don't worry, we'll be busy enough."

Of course we will, she thought. Protecting the innocent together and protecting each other. Because that's how it works.

XXX

He woke up on her couch and it took him a couple of seconds to remember the day before. Natasha had been released from the hospital and he took her to the base. They talked about monsters and future and after that they watched a movie. He had to fall asleep at that point because he had no idea how the movie ended.

He saw Natasha stir in her bed, quietly got up and moved to the kitchenette. There were some cereals and milk, thanks to Coulson who had been in charge of getting the room ready for her, and Clint made coffee. By the time it was ready, Natasha scrambled out of the bed and joined him at the table.

They ate their breakfast in silence until Natasha's pager beeped. She checked her messages and sighed. „Coulson wants me to go over records of the some interrogations. So much for the break."

„I can help you," he offered.

"I don't think you can do what Coulson wants me to," she said.

"I can make something up."

"Thanks for the offer but I can do it. I can hardly go to the gym, so I'm going to have plenty of free time." She looked at her cereals. "But I'm not doing anything until I have finished my breakfast."

He smiled and got up to make another coffee. She silently passed him her cup and he thought that mornings like this weren't bad at all.

THE END (until the sequel)