My Achilles' Heel

Chapter Six

Hope for the best and make do with what you get

"You got her clothes?" Fury asked Natasha who was now sitting on a piece of rubble. Both of them overlooked the machines trying to dig through the heavy rocks that remained from the explosion. Somewhere a few feet down was the basement you were trapped in.

All that can Natasha give as a response was a nod, it has been two excruciating hours trying to carefully get every piece of rubble out to get through you. She could pass out from the exhaustion, but at the same time couldn't because of the evident worries. Thankfully, she got a call an hour earlier about Clint having a successful operation, being stable, and resting to fully recover. Fury had asked Natasha to go back to the headquarters to rest but she insisted on waiting for you to be retrieved.

"Boss, I think we got it," The man operating the backhoes shouted from the distance. Natasha shoot up from her seat, together with Fury both of them jogged towards the scene. A few feet down was a massive bunker-like room made out of strong metal. The familiar door greeted Natasha as she swiftly went to open it until Fury exclaimed, "No Romanoff, stop,"

Her eyes darted back at him, confusion washed down her face as she stopped in defeat. "It's still dangerous, it's still there-" Fury's sentence was cut off by the soft opening of the metal door, revealing a barely clothed Y/N, fatigued wearing down throughout her body as she clutched the helmet containing the enhanced tesseract to her chest that covered it well too.

"Finally, don't go in there, it's still very hot, won't make you melt but it'll probably cook your eggs," You mumbled to them, meeting the soft green eyes of the very worried redhead looking at you with an amused face.

You smiled at her, ecstatic to see her very much alive and well. "I'll take that," You grabbed the clothes from her, your other hand still holding the helmet that covers you.

Even from inches away, Natasha could still feel the heat radiating from your skin. Making her still worry, she looked at you with a concerned look, "You're hot,"

"I know right?" You said making Fury roll his eyes in disbelief. Soon enough her eyes that held concern for you turned into a glare.

"That's not what I meant," The redhead said in defense, you gave her a frown hoaxing a pained face and clutching your hand to your heart. "I mean, you are, but, you-"

Your eyes lit up, a smirk crossed your face as you heard Fury's deep chuckles, "Stop it Y/L/N, you're making my deadly-assassin blush," Fury said hiding the small grin across his face.

"No, it's not me," You turned to face Fury, a mischievous smile paints your lips. "It's my hotness," Fury cringed at your words as you let out a fit of laughter from witnessing his face. Your cheeks hurt too much from the cuts and bruises that you gained.

Natasha just watched both of you in amusement, relieved that you were still in a good condition and finally, seeing Fury become himself again after a few intense hours of seeing him in a miserable state. Both of them walked you back to the quinjet, the chilly air making your temperature close to normal. You explained to Fury how the helmet helps in containing the energy the tesseract emits, so when he took it he made sure that it was carefully wrapped.

You had the chance to slip on the clothes that were given to you, a pair of trousers, and a black jumper. Finally, you collapsed on the makeshift bed inside the quinjet, Natasha soon coming over to you to offer her aid.

"What's with the bruises?" She asked while she was cleaning the cuts from your busted lips. Across the room, Fury looked over her shocked to witness the sudden boldness to you. They knew where it all went wrong, the moment hydra agents started swooping around the base, there was an unspoken recognition that you'll be reached. All they could hope was that they were wrong, and you proved them otherwise when you came out of the room with injuries obviously that from a fight. A tesseract couldn't possibly smack you in the face and almost break your ribs.

"A hydra agent wearing that suit got in, turns out he was my abductor, slash the man who led the experiments on me." You told her, eyes still closed from the fatigue but somehow you didn't want to open it because of the fear to see her looking at you differently. You didn't want anyone to set their eyes on you with pity, or disgust. Fury just quietly listened, he knew that it was hard for you to open up, so over the years, he learned to just hear you out. Secretly his ego increases a bit by being right about setting Natasha and you on a mission. He didn't know it was going to be a good idea, he just hoped for the best, and make do with what he got. And what he got was this.

Natasha nodded, "Sorry, I wasn't there to protect you," She said softly her voice barely audible as she continued to treat the cut on your upper lip closing it and placing the bandaids perpendicular so that it mends quickly.

You smiled at her, fully aware that her stare was on your lips. Finally opening your eyes to confirm this assumption, her eyes met yours when she noticed you looking at her. You felt your breath stuck on your throat, the emerald green glued to yours being the reason.

"Well, maybe I'll let you, next time." Your grin grew as she reciprocate it with disbelief. A chuckle escapes her lips, still finding it crossing her professionalism but not caring about it anymore.

"You better, I shall live up to the nickname you gave me," She mumbled acting to fail a British accent while cleaning the mess from the materials she used for the first aid. She noticed your eyebrows furrowed in confusion as her eyes rolled at you.

Soon enough you remembered, "I thought you forgave me for that!" You exclaimed Fury whose eyes are now fluttering close from exhaustion checked out what was happening. Then a few seconds later gave up and went back on drifting to sleep.

"No, no it's okay," She said her voice lowering again only for you to hear. "I-uh, actually thought you were kidding that night,"

Your smile grew back, light rosy tint painted your cheeks. "And here I am, thinking you were just doing some sort of a job," You said with a sudden burst of energy in your voice rooted from the blush you gained from the redhead, who clearly is failing to hide it from you.

"Job? We were at a bar just outside work, you think I'd be doing a job there," Her eyes held a fierceness you never thought you'd see at this circumstance, making you uneasy under her gaze.

"Erm, I mean, who knows-," You shrugged your shoulders chuckling away the nervousness. "What you were exactly trying to do,"

She scoffs at you, hitting a full circle with what really happened. A smirk swoop her face as she realized that you clearly missed the signs and that all this time you were unaware of her flirtatious endeavors. She didn't respond, just held the smug look on her face far from ignorant about your uneasiness.

"And you know, I've already had a few shots, and uhm, might have erm-blurted out a name you didn't like." You said waving your hand trying to make a point and filling the silence.

Her eyebrows raised at you, making you close your eyes in embarrassment. Until she chuckled lowly, you peak at her with one eye making her shake her head in pure adoration, surely not expecting everything to turn into this.

"Who said I didn't like it?" Finally, she spoke up breaking the ice.