Under or Over: Hawkeye & Black Widow

CHAPTER #21

The next day was just as miserable as their first day on the island. But they made good progress. At the top of Queen Mary's peak, they saw some buildings. Agent Romanoff used the binoculars to check if there was any occupancy. By the time she put the eyeglass down, agent Barton was already climbing down the rock face. She shook her head in annoyance and then followed after him. They were half way down, when there was a rumble from above that made them both look up.

"Rock slide!" Natasha yelled as she put in another anchor and squeezing herself into a crack that ran down the cliff face beside her.

The rocks came crashing down seconds later, she closed her eyes to protect them from rock shards. A chunk tagged her arm, but her uniform protected her. Agent Barton wasn't so lucky. He had tried to get out of the way of the rock slide, but wasn't fast enough. When the slide finally stopped and agent Romanoff had a chance to look around, she saw him limply hanging from the safety line. As she repelled down the mountain to his side, she saw blood on his head.

"Clint! Clint!" Natasha called to him, franticly anchoring herself so she could check for a pulse. She was relieved to find one.

But he wasn't conscious. Romanoff knew she had to get him down first, before she could help him. She clipped him to her line and to her harness. She was just releasing him from his line, when he came to. She was slightly relieved that he had only lost consciousness for a few minutes.

"Nat? I can't move my arm, I think I dislocated my shoulder."

"That and you have a good gash on your head. That's where the blood is from. You just had to get yourself all banged up...." Natasha scolded. "We're going down now."

The rest of the decent was without mishap, but the going was slow. Barton had a high tolerance for pain and that was a good thing, because anyone else would have screamed in agony or passed out. Once her feet touched the ground, she unhooked them from the lines. He remained standing, leaning against the rock face.

Natasha looked him over, gently taking off his gear and pack. "It's an anterior dislocation. I can either call it in so they come get you or I can manually relocate it. Up to you."

Clint frowned at her with a look of disbelief. "Nat have I ever quit an operation?"

"No, not even when you should. You're a stubborn ass."

"Thanks. Now just get on with it," he said.

She made sure his upper arm was in its resting position, perpendicular to the ground. He watched her as she carefully followed the steps that any first aide trained agent would have taken. Agent Romanoff slowly rotated his arm and shoulder outward, making sure his upper arm was stationary. It took two tries before Barton's shoulder popped back into its joint. He had broken into a sweat, but that was the only sign that showed he was in pain. With the joint in place, instant relief came. He rotated his arm in the other direction, back towards his chest, before resting it. She made him a sling, to accelerate the healing. Knowing him he'd be using the arm long before the recommended 10 days.

"Is this the arm that you dislocated in Hungary?" Natasha asked as she cleaned up the blood and fixed the gash on his head.

Clint replied, trying not to move his head. "And again in Nigeria last year. The arm will be okay. But would you mind carrying my pack for the day and helping me back into my gear and poncho?"

"I can carry it all you know. Putting more strain on it, will just have the joint pop again."

"Nat, I'm fine." Clint was getting annoyed that she was babying him.

Romanoff knew better than to test Barton's patience too far, so she relented. Carefully she put his gear, bow and quiver back on. Then the poncho went over top. Once he nodded that he was ready, she shouldered his pack and then continued on. The good news was that they didn't have any more repelling to do or mountain climbing. Now it was just a long hike through dense terrain. Agent Romanoff took the lead, sometimes having to hack away at the shrubbery to make a path forward. She knew his energy would be draining faster than normal. So they took a few pit stops along the way. She gave him her ration of energy bar, claiming not to be hungry. It brought memories back of another time, when they had been on an operation and he'd been injured. It was in his nature to always protect her, no matter what the cost was to him. He'd die for her in an instant, if it meant she would live. That loyalty, scared Romanoff and excited her. The time she was recalling, was an operation where Barton had thrown himself into the line of fire, so she could escape, when he ran out of arrows. He took a beating from the HYDRA agents on top of almost bleeding to death. She had come back for him, as he knew she would. The Black Widow, on that day had been horrific beauty in motion. That's when he saw what she really could do and he never forgot it.