Phantasm

Chapter 1

"We have a lot of catching up to do." Andy said and Clint just looked at her, shock written over his expression.

"You're damn right." He muttered and stalked over to her before pulling her by her arm into the elevator and slamming the up button.

"Clint, take it easy." Natasha said stepping forward. Clint ignored her as he waited for the elevator.

"Clint...take a breath." Andy said turning towards him. Clint looked at her, anger radiating out into the lobby.

"You died! Your heart monitor went flat! You fucking died Andy! You left me!" Clint yelled and Andy took his expression in before responding.

"My heart stopped yes, but for my healing power thing to work I needed to die before they came into effect. My fast metabolism kicked in and rebooted my heart. My hair rusted but I'm still me Clint. I'm here." Andy said softly, trying to calm him down.

The elevator doors dinged open. Clint dragged her inside and slammed the button for his floor.

"Clint wait!" Natasha said before the doors closed in front of them. The team fell silent and looked between each other, not believing what was going on.

 Back in the elevator, Clint just looked at her. He didn't think he could give himself the hope of her being alive, just to have her disappear again. 

"I thought you died. My world fell apart." He whispered, still looking at her. This time instead of anger, sadness filled his expression. Andy looked down, not sure what her response was going to be.

"I'm so sorry Clint." She said softly while he just looked at her.

She looked up at him and he took a step towards her.

Before she could say anything or explain herself, he kissed her. It was more than the kiss they shared while undercover. A real kiss.

He pulled her close by her waist and she ran her hands through his sandy blonde hair.

The elevator doors dinged open and they pulled away, their cheeks flushed and both of them a little out of breath. 

"That was long overdo." Clint whispered, still close to her. Andy nodded a little bit and gave him a small smile.

"No shit." She whispered and followed him out of the elevator.

He lead her to the couch. Andy sat down but Clint stayed standing, trying to figure everything out.

"We had a funeral, it was an open casket. How the hell did you pull that off?" He asked as he paced in front of her.

"You have to promise me you won't get mad at him. He was just helping me out." She said hoping he really wouldn't get mad. Clint nodded a little, debating if he could keep that promise.

"What did you do?" He asked and she looked at her hands.

"Bruce was disconnecting all of the machines that were around me when the heart monitor started and I woke up. He flipped out at first but you know, I calmed him down. I explained what I wanted to happen and he agreed to help me. He had a friend that agreed to help me too. So I got better in a room away from the team and then snuck out one night. I went back to Europe but then the lead I was chasing came back to New York so I came back." She explained and Clint ran a hand down his face.

"Bruce helped you disappear from our lives?" Clint asked, his anger evident again and she stood up.

"Yes now you promised you wouldn't get mad." She pleaded and he .

Clint studied her face as silence fell between them. He looked at her eyes, the same green that he saw the first time in the gym. The green that took his breath away, it was the same as it was before. 

Her hair had turned to a red color, the color of rust, almost as if it had actually rusted. It was still in waves that cascaded down her shoulders, somehow perfect through every fight. The red had grown on her but she was going to dye it back to silver at first, she was happy she didn't. She had kept her hair at the length it was, a little longer than shoulder length.

Andy smiled a little at him and he hugged her tightly, not wanting to stay away from her any longer. She stumbled back a little but hugged back and just stayed there for a couple of minutes.

The elevator door dinged and they spilt apart as Bucky and Bruce ran in.

"I heard a rumor and I wanted to see if it was true. Is she back?" Bucky yelled and saw Andy.

She waved a bit and smiled a little. "Hey guys." She said and Bucky's eyes widened before running over to her and hugging her.

"Bucky, you're crushing me." She said and groaned. He let go immediately and smiled.

"Good to see you again. I hope you don't mind...Bruce told me a couple of months into the grief." Bucky whispered and Andy nodded a little.

Bruce walked forward and hugged Andy for a second. "Good to see you're still alive." He said and smiled a little. Before Andy could respond Clint grabbed his arm and pulled Bruce to the kitchen.

"Clint, this is not his fault! It's mine!" Andy said and Clint stopped and looked at her.

"You disappeared from our lives. I said I love you and you passed out. I saw you in the hospital room and you were dying. I couldn't even see you suffering. I said my goodbye and I left. Fury said she's gone and my entire world collapsed. I literally collapsed. Nat and Steve can vouch for that. I was standing in the kitchen, I heard the words and I fell to my knees and started crying. I didn't leave my room for two months. I was suffering big time. He knew that. He didn't have the decency to tell me that you were still alive when you told Bucky!" Clint yelled as he got more and more angry.

"Because I told him not to tell you! If he told you, you would've come looking for me and I didn't want you to do that! That was my order." She snapped and Clint let go of Banner and walked over to her.

"You had no right to do that." Clint snapped at her. The tender moment of the hug was gone and it was replaced with anger again. 

"Yeah I actually did, I get to live my life my own way. I didn't want you to chase me as I chased down things from my life." She said, turned on her heels and walked to the elevator, done with the anger. She knew she deserved it but it was a lot. 

She pressed the up button and the doors slid open. She walked in pressed the button for the main floor and looked right at Clint when the doors closed.

"You just lost her again." Bucky whispered and walked to the stairs with Bruce by his side.

Clint knew better than to get in a fight with Bucky because he was the winter soldier, he would be beaten in a second. He was beyond mad. He let her disappear out of his life once before and he didn't want that to happen again, but it just did.