Dimidium - Marvel Studios [7]

fifty-seven.

April 2023

Steve and I walked through the halls of HQ, the place completely deserted and quiet except from the sound of my boots clicking along the floor with each step I made. Steve followed behind me, his trench coat thrown over his arm and one of his hands lazily pushed into his pocket. We had already checked the living quarters for Natasha, but failed to find her there. We walked down the hallway towards the offices, the sound of talking coming from the command centre, making me stop on the spot as I looked in through the open door.

Natasha sat at the conference table, her feet up as paperwork scattered around her, speaking to a hologram of Rhodey that was projecting in front of her. "There's no conformation that it's him" Rhodey told her as Nat let out a sigh, leaning her head on the back of the black chair she was in, what was rest of her blonde hair falling over her shoulders. "Ally thinks that it's him" she replied to him, making me hold my hand out to Steve to tell him to stay still so we wouldn't interrupt their meeting. "If it is Barton, the stuff he's been doing in the past few years" Rhodey started, not having to finish off his sentence for Natasha to understand what he was going to say.

I looked down, letting out a silent breath, knowing that Rhodey and Nat had been trying to track Clint down ever since I had fought with him Korea. "Will you just find out where he is going next?" Natasha asked Rhodey as he let out a sigh, the projection of his body showing how he crossed his arms over his chest exasperatedly. "Nat" he started as Natasha shook her head in reply, tears falling down her cheeks as Steve and I watched her silently. "Please?" she begged one more time, Rhodey barley being able to nod his head before Natasha made the hologram disappear as she left the room silent.

She put her head in her hands, sobbing gently as I let out a small sigh, Steve pushing his hand into my back slightly to tell me that we should go in. I obeyed, knocking on the door gently, Natasha looking up at Steve and I from her position in her chair. She quickly wiped her face clear from her tears, Steve walking into the room before me with a smile on his face as I followed in behind him. "I'd offer to cook you dinner but you seem pretty miserable already" Steve said to her, leaning against the large bookshelf as Natasha looked between Steve and I, sniffling before wiping under her nose with the back of her hand.

"You two here to do your laundry?" she asked as I walked into the room slowly, my hands in the pockets of my coat. I stayed quiet, pushing out as much of a smile as I could, desperately wanting to comfort my friend. There wasn't much conversation between Nat and I in the past few weeks, she barely even left HQ because she was so desperate to pin point Clint. I could tell that there was a small bit of her that was angry at me for saying that the vigilante was Clint, not because she didn't want him to be alive but because she didn't want me to give her so much hope. She was hoping I was wrong, and there was a part of me hoping so as well.