Her Hidden Past

- Chapter Twenty Three -

"Clint you need to let Simmons work," Phil gently pulled him back towards the door giving Simmons room.

The alarms began to blare more insistently. Clint lunged forwards. "Natasha," His panicked cry barely audible over the alarms. Phil grabbed him, preventing him from going to her.

"Captain, get him out of here," Phil ordered as Steve arrived at the med bay.

Steve grabbed Clint, pulling him back towards the doorway despite Clint's best efforts to fight. "Stop fighting me, Clint," Steve begged as he pulled him out into the hallway.

"I said I wouldn't leave her," Clint was on the verge of breaking down. "Don't make me leave her."

Coulson hesitated before following them out. "Barton," Phil's tone brooked no argument.

"I can't lose her, Phil, not like this," Clint was desperate.

"She's made it through worse, Clint," Phil reminded him.

"But what if this is the time she doesn't?" Clint slumped to the floor.

"I'll leave you to it," Steve spoke softly, before moving back down the corridor.

"Thanks, Captain," Phil spoke equally quietly. "Clint?"

"I can't lose her, Phil, it's too soon."

"This is why I warned you against getting too close," Phil shook his head sadly.

"I couldn't help it, Phil. After all we've been through, together and apart, we had no one else who would understand," Clint let his face fall. "When we lost you, we only had each other."

"I'm sorry Clint," Phil sighed. "The two of you are good for each other, there's no denying that. If I thought the two of you needed me as much as I knew you needed each other I would have forced Fury to tell you I was alive."

"We did need you, Phil," Clint's voice cracked before he lowered it again. "It nearly ended me, losing you. Natasha was barely holding it together either. It nearly cost our loyalty to SHIELD, nearly cost our partnership."

"Clint, I would never want you to stay at SHIELD if you wanted to leave," Phil admonished softly.

"We wanted to honour your legacy," Clint admitted. "We thought you would want us to stay."

"Coulson," Simmons called down the corridor.

"I'm glad you two didn't leave," Phil admitted, nodding to Clint. "But I'd never stop you if you did want to. Wait here."

"I'm not waiting here, Coulson," Clint pushed himself up. "She's my partner. I need to know how she is."

"Wait here, Clint," Phil snapped. He hurried down the hallway to meet Simmons.

"We've got her stable," Simmons said softly, "She's in a coma. We'll keep monitoring her, but she's gone downhill rapidly, it's hard to say if or when she may wake up from it. We can't find the cause."

Clint pushed past them entering the room. He pulled one of the chairs to Natasha's bedside and settled down by her side. He ignored as Fitz cleaned up the last of the supplies they had used.

"Clint," Phil rested a hand on his shoulder. "Simmon's said if she wakes from the coma in the next few days she'll be fine. If she doesn't," He paused as if finding it hard to speak the words. "There's a chance she might not."

"She'll pull through, like every other time," Clint's voice, though soft, was full of conviction.

"I hope she will," Phil was letting doubt creep in. "She looks so fragile."