Author's Note:
The following events take place during the first Avengers movie.
Most of the movie's events remain the same unless otherwise stated, though I may reorder some of the chronology for the sake of pacing. I jump around through the story so this works better if you remember the movies well.
Of course, Marvel owns all the rights to these characters, and there will be spoilers for the films involved.
*********
It wasn't long before Natasha spotted Hawkeye. She knew, rather than dealing with crowds of panicked helicarrier staff and agents, he would be on the overhead runway, where he could see things better. What did surprise her was his fast pace and heavy footing - it was as if he was driven by one mission, with no thought for subtlety.
Silently dropping to the platform alongside him, Natasha sneaked up behind him, hoping to take him down quickly, but knowing a day like this wasn't going to give her any gifts. Sure enough, before she could land a blow, he span on the spot, anticipating her approach.
In a second he had shot an arrow, but she was close enough, to dodge to the left of his bow. She grasped his weapon and attempted to pull it from his grip, but he pulled it back, elbowing her in the face as he turned. Bow in hand, he swung it at her wildly and missing. With a swift kick, she sent him flying back, before she slipped below the walkway.
'Did he really just hit me?' She wiped her lip on the back of her hand and saw a spot of blood. 'Clint wouldn't do this,' she thought, 'which means there's not much else to do here but knock him down'.
Swinging back up from the other side, she caught him off-guard, kicking him in the chest. He took the blow, but now with some distance between them, he released another arrow from his bow. She evaded it by leaping to the another platform, and he soon followed.
Utilising his bow more as a blunt weapon, he came in swinging. She dodged several of his blows with ease, but one she could only block with her fists. As he pulled back, she tried to grab the bow, but instead got the bowstring. He pulled the elastic back, before pushing forward and bringing her face-first into his weapon.
'Enough of this,' she thought to herself, reeling from the hit. She brought her knee as hard as she could into his thigh, then struck him across the face. As he stumbled back, she grabbed the bow from his loose grip and threw it behind her. Natasha drew her knife, only to look up and see him similarly armed.
For the first time, she saw his eyes up close. It wasn't like the Hulk's eyes had been, this was different. His eyes were grey, washed out, like all traces of his personality had been removed. So it came as a shock when she heard the voice of her friend come forth.
"What's that on your chest?"
"Sweat," Natasha responded, trying not to let his voice throw her off her game. "It's been a tiring day."
"C'mon Nat," he replied flatly, "We both know I've got better eyesight than that."
Natasha eyed him suspiciously. He sounded like Clint, but his actions have been overtaken. There was still something of him in there.
"Personally, I knew you could take the big guy. You should be proud. You're the only human ever to go toe-to-toe with him without at least breaking a hundred bones."
"I'm tired, Clint," Natasha said, readying her blade. "Can I just drop you in silence?"
Clint swiped at her with his knife, but was blocked. An instant later, he knocked the blade out of her hand, so she returned the favour by bending his arm back, then pushing his knife, still in his own hand, against his throat.
The two of them were locked closely as they tried to keep the knife closer to their opponent. Natasha didn't want to risk his life, a hesitation that gave him the opportunity to push the sharp edge closer.
Natasha may not have wanted to stab him, but she had no qualms about biting, so brought her teeth down hard into forearm. He released the knife and lost his stance, so Black Widow brought in the finisher. Flipping over his outstretched arm, she clutched it tightly and swung him around with all her strength, bringing his forehead into the walkway rail with a loud clang.
She watched him try to pull himself to his feet as she caught her breath, until he got to his knees. "Tasha?" he asked, but she knew better. Those cold eyes were staring back at her still, so she was never going to let her guard down.
Her left fist came down hard, knocking him out cold.
*****
Things seemed a lot calmer now. The helicarrier was still in the air, thanks to Cap and Stark's work with the engines. Thor and Hulk were god knows where. Despite the chaos of the attack, they hadn't lost that many agents. Except for Coulson. But Natasha wasn't going to mention that to Clint just yet, she could barely think about it herself.
She had found them a private and mostly unused medical facility, strapping him down to a stretcher after she'd got some help moving his unconscious body there. While he was unconscious, fighting against his bonds, as if in combat with a phantom enemy, she sat and watched him. Eventually, the events of the day proved too much, and Natasha fell asleep.
She awoke, bringing her head up from the hand it was resting on. She took in her surroundings, she was sat down still, and Clint was awake. The room was light still, but given the helicarrier's flight path often finding itself above the clouds, this gave her no clue.
Natasha tapped at a monitor on the end of the bed to wake it up, and saw the time. Somehow, an hour and a half had passed in a blink of an eye. She felt just about rested, having perfected the art of getting by on little sleep, but her partner wasn't doing quite so well. Clint's arms flexed and his eyes squinted in pain.
She stood up and walked over to his bedside. He looked as if he was suffering drug withdrawal symptoms, but with this kind of alien tech, she had no idea how it would feel. World's worst hangover, probably.
"Clint. You're going to be alright."
"You know that?" He laughed to himself, grimacing through the pain. "Is that what you know? I've got no window. I have to flush him out."
"You got to level out," Natasha said as she poured him a glass of water. "It's going to take time."
