The Meaning of Trust: Brutasha

A Box, Bandages, and Bruce

Over the past two months, Clint and Natasha have grown closer together.

"Tash! Get over here!" Clint yells.

Natasha runs to her partner. "What?"

"Look."

Natasha stares at a hole in the wall. "No."

Clint smiles and nods. "Yes."

"That means-!" Natasha turns to Clint.

"Yep."

"Oh my God!"

Clint takes the object out of the hole and places it carefully into a bag.

"Come on then. Let's go back to the hotel."

Natasha nods and follows Clint out of the side tower of a small Catholic church.

"Natasha."

"Yeah. I see them."

"What should we do. They're trying to surround us."

"Turn right in 100 feet. We'll split up and meet back up at the broken building three blocks down."

"Got it. See ya later gator."

Natasha rolls her eyes and branches off from Clint. Natasha goes around the corner and walks into a deep alley.

"This'll be fun," she mumbles to herself.

She turns her back to the wall and prepares for the fight. She waits for two minutes until she realizes no one followed her. They all went after Barton.

"Shit."

Natasha sprints to where her partner went. She finds Clint fending for himself, surrounded by two men on the ground.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Clint yells when Natasha jumps in.

"Sorry!"

She takes down one man while Clint tries to dodge a knife. As Natasha slams her foot into the side of her enemy's head, she hears Clint scream in pain. She runs over to the man standing over her friend and wraps her arm around his neck. When he falls over, she bends down next to Barton.

"Clint, where'd he get you?" She asks while frantically looking for the wound.

Clint groans as he points to his waist.

"We've gotta get you up. There is a jet less than a block away."

Clint nods and accepts her help to stand. He leans onto her, helping him stabilize. She helps him walk into the Quinjet safely. She sets him on the floor, instructing him to lay on his back. He does as he's told while Natasha sets the coordinates to the safe house.

Natasha turns her attention back to Clint once auto-pilot is on.

"Clint you better not close your eyes. If I see you close your eyes, I will slap you. Now, pull up your shirt."

Clint chuckles but it soon turns into a painful cough.

Natasha grabs two rolls of gauze and another two rolls of bandage.

"You're gonna have to sit up. I'm sorry."

Natasha helps Clint move to the side of the wall so he can lean into it. He sits up and takes Natasha's hand, squeezing it.

"I'm sorry but I've got to wrap it."

She sets Clint's hand on her thigh while she uses both her hands to wrap the gauze and bandage around his waist.

"Did you pack another shirt?" She asks drowsy Clint when she finishes wrapping his wound.

He nods and points to the backpack. Natasha nods and grabs to bag. She pulls out a shirt and hands it to Barton.

"Thanks."

Natasha nods.

Clint groans as he takes off his bloody shirt. As he undresses, Natasha notices multiple scars.

"Where'd you get those?"

Clint looks at his chest. "All over the place. Europe, Asia, North America, South America."

"Do you have any? You know, battle scars?"

Natasha nods. "I was on a mission to protect someone when my enemy shot through me to get to my asset."

"Can I see it? It's only fair." He motions to his visible scars.

She nods and lifts up the corner of her shirt while moving closer so he can see it.

"Ouch." He runs his fingers carefully over the scar tissue.

Natasha looks into his eyes all of a sudden feeling lonely and vulnerable.

Clint places his hand firmly on her bare hip while leaning in to plant his lips on hers.

At first, Natasha leans into it allowing the moment to happen. Soon her head is filled with images of Bruce. Images of Bruce smiling and laughing. Then the get darker. Natasha now only sees Bruce scared, sad, and alone. With a gasp, she quickly pulls away from Clint.

"Bruce would be-. I can't do that."

Clint looks at her shocked. "Bruce? Natasha, you've been gone for three months. He's probably moved on."

Natasha stands and backs away.

"Oh come on. You haven't even been able to call him. He doesn't even know where you are. What you've been through. We share that now. You can't turn around."

"If you weren't injured, I would stab you myself. You can't tell him."

Clint crosses his arms and turns his head away. "Well, we can go back now. I got the box."

Natasha nods and goes back to the cockpit.

The rest of the flight is filled with silence. Natasha wanted to call Bruce and tell him she was on her way but was now terrified to face him. She did call Tony. She told him she was landing at the Facility and to tell Bruce. He said sure and hung up.

Natasha stares at the clouds ahead, contemplating her reunion with Bruce.

===

OKAY OKAY! I LOVE CLINT! HE IS NOT AN AWFUL GUY! And Laura and their kids obviously don't exist in this AU. Thanks for being patient and I can't stress this enough: I adore Clint!

I'm going to try my hardest to post again this week but school has hit me haRD. Sorry for the late post and I hope you like it... but also hate it... if you know what I mean. Anyway, thanks for the love and support I am receiving. I love hearing you say you want me to keep posting. It makes my day!

That's all! Bye!