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Spiderwebs - Chapter 10

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He didn't like it.

That summed up Clint's opinion of the entire situation, put very simply. He didn't know what exactly "it" was just yet—knowing things had always been her job in the partnership—but he knew that somehow, he would find out. If he didn't, the not knowing would kill him. Because somehow, even after all she'd put him through, after the way she had crushed him so completely, it was still nothing compared to the pain he would feel if something were to happen to her. With a frustrated sigh, he realized that was the reason he was standing here, outside her door. It wasn't really because of those stupid spiderwebs, or the alarms that sounded when some enchanted insect set off Stark's new magic meters, or even because of the possibility that Loki, that silvertongued son-of-an-ice-giant monstrosity, had come back to wreak some new havoc. To be perfectly honest, he'd had enough of Loki to last him several lifetimes, and if it had been an arc reactor or a spangled shield left pointedly in that common room, Clint would have walked away without so much as blinking and left Stark or the Captain to solve their own problems.

Natasha, though. That was different.

He couldn't just walk away from her. Not when she might need him. They had always been there for each other, even before they knew they had to be. When he had taken a chance on a Russian spy he was supposed to eliminate and brought her into the realm of SHIELD's inner workings, he had already signed himself into a lifetime agreement that he could never back out on. Because even before he allowed himself to admit it, it had been true—he loved her. Not romantically, not at first. At first sight it had just been the allure of such a mysterious, capable, thoroughly captivating target that made her impossible to eliminate. Not because the arrow on his bowstring wouldn't have pierced her the same way it did any other victim, but because to do so would have been to destroy a true artist. So he brought her over instead. And he always wondered why she took the offer. Guilty conscience, he assumed, or perhaps she felt her own life's value was quickly drawing to a close on the Russian market. Either way, she took his hand, and that was the important part. That was the moment that locked the two of them in an unspoken contract. He knew she always considered it red in her ledger, but the truth was that he owed her for giving him new purpose that day. And he worked as hard as he could to repay it. Then that wretched brother of Thor had shown up and taken away his life as he knew it. He still wandered the halls at night sometimes, trying to remember how many lives he took under Loki's bidding. How many of them he had known. How many more he would have taken gladly, and in that category there was always one face that haunted him.

She told him, when he had come back, to spare himself from that torture, to push it from his mind. The truth hung between them though, hard and heavy. If she hadn't brought him back—and oh, there was the cruel irony of it all again. He owed her now even more deeply, and now he couldn't even get near her. Maybe it had been foolishness to think the Black Widow could ever give her heart to him in return, but there had been moments when it seemed—no, there was no point. It was a torture as bad as the other, to agonize over might-have-beens. Now there was only the certainty of the present, and the truth of it was that he owed Natasha a life-debt, and this might be his only chance to repay it.

He raised a hand to knock, his bare knuckles inches from the polished paneling of the sliding door. Wait, were there voices coming from inside? For once he wished he could trade his visual acuity for superhuman hearing. Anything to know what was behind that door. An errant paranoia told him Loki was inside that room even now, weaving some cursed magic to steal his Tasha—

"Natasha? Tasha, are you in there?"

His heart pounded fiercely as he awaited a reply for what seemed like overlong seconds. He tensed himself to kick the door down when it suddenly slid aside on pneumatic triggers.

"Clint." It was her, thank whatever gods were worth thanking. "What are you doing here?"

"I had to come check on you. To make sure you were okay." Was she okay? She seemed more guarded than usual, if that was possible. Painfully, he realized it was probably a result of their conversation the day before.

"I'm not your responsibility anymore, Clint. Not on or off of the case. We had this discussion."

"I know that!" Daggers shot through his heart to see how indifferently she handled the issue. It didn't hurt her at all, did it, to turn her back on everything they'd ever been? Everything he'd ever thought they were? He didn't even know anymore. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to pull himself together. Without meaning to, he had shouted at her. Hardly a good conversation tactic for what he was trying to accomplish.

"I just…I was worried. I am worried. About you, Natasha."

She replied quickly and impassively, but it didn't escape the archer's notice that she refused to meet his eyes. "I told you, Clint, I'm not protecting you from anything except myself. I can't be what you want from me, and—"

"No, not that." he waved her off. "This isn't about my hurt feelings. It has nothing to do with me."

"Then what does it have to do with?" The exasperation in her voice was painful to him, but not nearly as much as the answer to her question.

"I'm positive Loki left those spiderwebs. And I would bet my skill as an archer that he's the one who set off that alarm. I think he's trying to get to you, and I have no idea why. But it doesn't sit well with me."

"You're overreacting, Clint. Parlor tricks are one thing, but Stark would know if someone really managed to get in here and cause any sort of damage."

"Look," he grabbed her hands, trying earnestly to make eye contact, to get her to see he was only trying to help her. "We are dealing with forces and abilities we don't fully understand. You have less faith in Stark than any of us, and you know darn well that something got past him. I know in my gut who it was and what he's after, and it terrifies me. Just let us protect you."

"I can take care of myself."

"Fine," he conceded. "I just hope you're not letting your…opinions of me cloud your judgment. This is about your safety, not your pride."

"You've seen me handle worse than this," a smile flickered across her face, but it wasn't the same smile she used to give him. It was a stranger's smile, meant for disarming targets and placating threats. He knew. He had seen it before. But never used on him. It was a bad sign.

"Yes, but never alone. Not like this. I know what he can do, Tasha. We're dealing with gods. And you're only human."

It was the best he could do, but it still wasn't good enough, and it angered him. He turned to leave, aware that if he stayed for even a minute longer, it would most certainly end in more harm than good. For both of them.

He turned back only once on his way down the hallway, and it was all he needed. Because in that one glimpse, he had seen something she surely hadn't meant for him to see.

He had seen Loki.
10 Chapters! Woo! Thank you so much to everyone who has read this faithfully, or to anyone who is reading it now. I really appreciate all the feedback I've gotten, and some of it has been fairly significant in shaping the story.

Here we have something new going on--Clint's perspective of his confrontation with Natasha. And as it turns out, his skills of observation picked up on something that may cause difficulties for the other players in this little cat-and-mouse game....

Let me know what you think! More Hawkeye chapters in the future? More Loki chapters? I'm not ruling anything out at this point!

Chapter 9 is here: [link]
Chapter 11 is here: [link]
Or read it from the beginning: [link]
Thanks for reading!
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