At Long Last (OC x Natasha Romanoff)

Chapter 9

Natasha POV

We had been walking for a few hours. The wolf's tracks were still easy to see but the terrain was starting to get harder to navigate. Most of the travel has become an uphill climb and Clint has been complaining about it for the last half hour.

"Barton, I swear to God if you dont stop complaining, I'm going to give you something to complain about."

"But we have been walking forever and it's been all uphill." he whined back like the man child he is.

"Hey Legolas, did it ever occur to you that you might be climbing a mountain?"

Clint groaned again. "Are we there yet?" I was now starting to plan several ways to kill him, just to make the whining stop. So far, I'm up to 25 different ways. I could never kill him though. Afterall, he is my best friend. Plus he does have a family. Poor Laura though, he is worse then the kids.

"Stark, what is our current position and are you seeing anything that could help us speed up the search?" Steve asked. It was clear Clint was starting to get on his nerves too.

"You are currently about a 30 minute walk from the base of Mount Washington. J.A.R.V.I.S run a scan on the mountain."

"Sir, there seems to be several caves about 100 feet up from the base of the mountain."

"Zoom in on the caves. Is there anything abnormal, or any sign of life matching the wolf's description?"

"I'm reading a large heat signature in one of the larger caves. At the mouth of the cave there is a rather large cliff. There is also a large, dead bear at the base of the mountain directly below the cave. Ms. Romanoff, it will be the first cave you come upon if you continue straight on your current path."

"Thanks J.A.R.V.I.S. Steve, do you want to keep following the tracks or head right for the cave?" I asked.

"I have a feeling the animal in the cave is the wolf, but just in case lets keep following the tracks. That way we know for sure it's the wolf. For now though, I want radio silence. We can't afford to lose the wolf now."

I turned to Clint and glared at him. "That means keep your mouth shut, Barton." I said then turned back around to keep following the tracks.

"That means keep your mouth shut." he mocked. I stopped and heard a deep gulp from behind me. I turned to clint again and smirked as I raised my right arm. "Nat please, I'll stop," he begged.

"Too late." I shot him with a widow bite. He dropped to the ground and groaned in pain. I turned once again and continued on the path, leaving Clint and Steve behind."

"You deserved that, you know." Steve said as he helped Clint back to his feet.

"Yeah. I may have pushed it just a bit."

Alex's POV

It's been a day since I killed the bear. It's body is starting to smell and I'm so hungry. I tried to get up to get my bag that I left by the mouth of the cave, but as soon as I put pressure on my back right leg I collapsed again. I was having a hard time breathing too. Most likely a broken rib or two from when I was thrown into the cave's wall. I whined in pain. "Artemis"

"Yeah."

"Are you able to take over? The pain is too much."

"Come on Alex. You can do it."

"But I'm so hungry, and it hurts too much."

"Fine, but I'm not feeling any better than you are. I'm in pain too. We are also just eating from the bear. I can't hunt in this condition."