The escapee - Marvel

Chapter 62 - Grief that swallows you whole

"Where is everyone?" Clint asked as the two walked into the common area. 

The room was dark and completely empty, a few lone coffee mugs on the coffee table. When Natasha looked she saw that they were still almost full, as if they had been abandoned abruptly.

She drew her eyes away from the beverages so she could follow Clint as he made his way through the area. Both avengers walked in silence, minds processing the end of their mission. 

Natasha walked behind him, enjoying the empty silence that the room was encased in. "Clint!" She exclaimed, "You're bleeding, come sit." 

She pulled him over to the kitchen and pushed him onto one of the stools and reached for the small med kit they kept in the cupboards, groaning when she realised she couldn't actually reach it without jumping.

Clint patted the back of his head and sighed when it came out red. "Romanoff I'm fine, it's just a surface wound."

"No Barton, you are not fine. You are bleeding from your head. You know that's where your brain is? Did you know that Clint?" She slammed the kit on the counter and started pulling out the contents, "If you insist you're fine and then you bleed to death then what?" 

"Nata-"

"No!" She yelled, looking up. "No, because it could get infected and then..." She thought for a moment, "and then who knows what. I can't- I can't lose you too. I can't handle it, Clint." She was aware she was overreacting but she couldn't seem to stop, the dramatic words being accompanied by a stream of hot tears.

"Woah, Nat." He cut off her rambling by pulling her into a hug, holding her as she broke down. 

The mission had been long and gruelling for them both and Natasha had been refusing to acknowledge any emotions so she could focus on the mission and now she was feeling them all.

Clint held her as he waited for her to calm down, waiting for her to pull back first. 

"I never knew you were so fond of me" He joked and she laughed, wiping her nose. "would it make you feel better if I let you patch the wound? Even if it is just a surface wound?"

She nodded, reaching for the med kit, motioning for him to turn around. She started cleaning the cut and Clint decided to talk again.

"Do you think they're all sleeping? It's suspiciously quiet for one in the morning. Vision doesn't even sleep so he's normally around" He thought out loud.

"Maybe there was another mission? We haven't had much contact with HQ, let alone the team."

"No, we were the only team out on a mission" He replied, reaching for an apple out of the fruit bowl.

"There are such things as emergency missions dumbass, crime doesn't adhere to your schedule." He could hear her rolling her eyes behind his back.

"FRIDAY? Where is everyone?" He asked, ignoring her comment.

"The majority of the team accompanied Miss Hill and Director Fury to Russia" The android replied and Natasha let out a celebratory laugh, jabbing Clint between the shoulder blades.

"Must've been serious for Hill and Fury to go" He commented and Natasha faltered for a moment, thinking.

"Fury's the director," She said, "he isn't a field agent anymore"

"Yeah, and?"

"Did you lose all of your brain cells?" She sighed, obviously annoyed. "Why is he on a mission if he isn't an agent?"