| Natasha Romanoff x Y/N Stark |

Chapter 28

My alarm went off.
I sighed realizing that this means, that my first 24 hours are over by now.
At least I'm almost finished with the hardware I guess.
Another two hours passed when I heard someone enter the lab. Taking a short glance at the person I knew it was Natasha.
"Are you working again or did you never stop?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Again. Slept a few hours through the night." I answered firmly. I can't have her worrying about me right now. In fact as much as I like her I need her to leave.
"I don't believe you"
"Well you should" I responded defensively.
"No, I shouldn't because I know you're lying and I just try to care about you and all you did since you left before breakfast yesterday was being distant!" She got louder on the last part and I know she was right. I was distant. But what should I tell her without sharing details about Laura. So there I was. Saying nothing.

"I think I should go" she sounded bitter and I think a part of her wants me to say that she should stay but I couldn't.
"Yeah, guess you should"
That sounded harsher than it was supposed to and for a second her unreadable expression fell, pain flashing through her gaze. But she just turned around and went upstairs.
I'm stupid. I am fucking stupid. I should have told her. Even about Laura. She could have helped me and she wouldn't be upset. Auuuugh.

"Jarvis play NF" I sighed. This can just get worse.
Let's get back to work.
I grabbed a new display and wired it to the rest, after that I just need to put it all together and then somehow, magically recreate that code.
Another person entering the lab. I can't do this right now. Since two hours Natasha's hurt expression is burned into the back of my mind. I can't take more right now. I need to finish this here for Laura. I can't hurt Natasha for nothing. I can't lose one of the few shield agents I'd consider a friend. I can't lose one of Clint's and Natasha's best friends. Ok stop Y/N, breathe. You don't gain anything if you start to panic.
Steps coming closer.
"Whoever it is, please get your fucking ass out of here. Can't have company right now" my voice sounded more vulnerable and way less confident than planned.

"Cut the games Y/N" he didn't sound mad but calm and caring.
Tears began to fill my eyes and I tried to supress a sob. Clint slowly approached me and pulled me into a tight hug. We stayed like this for about a minute before he pulled away and sat on a stool next to me.
"So why don't you explain why Natasha comes to my room almost crying and all worried about you and why you isolate yourself down here?"
At the mention of Natasha a few more tears rolled down my cheeks, regret about what I said earlier flooding my brain, and I took a deep breath before answering. "So Fury gave me that task" I gestured to the mess on my desk "and a tight time-frame to accomplish it - to say the least. A-and I need to fix it b-ecause" I felt how my voice broke and I desperately tried to keep myself together but the more I tried the more I seemed to fail.
"Hey, hey Y/N come on. Deep breathes, ok?" He laid a hand on my back and I calmed down a bit.
"sorry. If I can't fix it in time someone dies. And the guy who created it isn't available to fix it so Fury said I should do it. And I'm already 24 hours on it. Thirty by now to be exact" He nods understanding and looked me in the eyes
"Who is it? I know Fury forbid you to say it but I can see in your eyes that it's personal. And you wouldn't be rude to any of us if it wasn't personal. Especially not towards Nat, because it's obvious that you like her" I nod before I whispered "It's Laura. And I have her only way to get out of her situation in little pieces on my desk"
"You can do it Y/N. I know it and Fury thinks that too" I mumbled a "Thanks" and gave him a small smile. Even though I hurt his best friend he was there for me and supports me. "Did you drink and ate anything since you came back from shield?" Once again I nod " Yeah, had a coffee, some water and two protein bars"
Now it was Clint's turn to sighs "Promise me to eat something soon? Like after you finished the hardware?" "Will do. Can you tell Tasha? Like everything? And that I'm sorry for how I acted?"
"Promise" he answered and smiled at me before he stood up amd left. "Clint!" "Yeah?" "Can you and Natasha take care of Hades?" "Don't worry, Nat already does" I smiled, of course she does.
"Jarvis please lock the door for fourty hours"

And with that I got back to work. After finishing on the hardware part I drank a Red Bull to fight the upcoming tiredness and got working on the code. I analyzed the code I could save to get to understand how it works. After that I can try to code what got lost. But before I got to far with that I fell asleep on my desk. Luckily I just slept for two hours, that was when my alarm for the second 24 hours rang.

I drank some water to wake up and got working again.
Twenty two hours and three Red Bull's later I was still deep into coding when Jarvis spoke up "Test positive, we got 75% of the code ready and working. Based on the time we needed until now you'll need 5 hours to complete the code, 3 hours debugging and an hour to build the new chip into the rest of the hardware and connect it" I made my hardware with a chip slot, like sim-card slots on phones, so you could remove the chip or switch it whenever you want to. "That means we're finished in about eight hours, right?"
"Yes Y/N. Should I keep the doors locked until then or should I unlock them? The fourty hours from yesterday are over. And you promised Mr. Barton to get upstairs and eat something"
"Please keep them locked and I know what I promised Clint but I ate another protein bar after he left and I don't have time for more. I wanted to finish in two not in eight hours"

---------------
words: 1134

Remember to eat and drink enough and stay healthy 💜🖤

edit: I tried to upload this for 30 minutes but Wattpad just wouldn't let me and it's about 1am and I don't have nerves for this shit
But got it working now (obviously)