Partners

Clint still won’t look at her. They were partners. To feel this way about him is dangerous. She is a spy; she knows the risks of being attached to someone. She’s not just attached, though, she’s ...

She had always hoped that he’d forgive her, but she worried the betrayal would have been too great.

Of course it was.

She shakes her head, but it does nothing to clear her thoughts. It should be easier if he hates her. This way she can leave as soon as they have the cube, and she can find Fury without any baggage to worry about.

They’re close to the tracker, now.

“Keep her here,” Hank says from Clint’s shoulder. Clint stops the jet and it hovers in midair.

“We need to get down onto the street. The tracer’s that way.” Natasha points.

Hank nods. “Wait for my signal.” He flies out of the jet on an actual ant - that part Natasha still has a little trouble believing and it would seem ridiculous if their mission wasn’t so important.

Hank’s ants cover enemies across the street and it makes her skin crawl to look at them; what must it feel like?

She pulls out her gun and takes a shot, Hawkeye doing the same with an arrow, hitting a Hydra soldier in the chest.

They jump out of the jet and land on the street.

“Just like old times, right?” Hawkeye says as he takes out another soldier. She used to be surprised at how easily banter came to him in a fight. Now she knows he just has a big mouth.

“Except for all the lies and betrayal.”

Now would not be the best time to talk about it. Distractions are not exactly what she wants in the middle of a fight. Banter she can deal with, but this is important. “You think it wasn’t hard for me, Clint?”

She kicks an enemy and he falls, she shoots him and spins around to face Clint, who is reloading his bow.

“Which part, framing me? Or beating me up?” He takes a shot, hits his target. He glances at her before shooting another enemy.

Natasha would roll her eyes, but she needs to see who she’s shooting at.

“I had my orders. You would have done the same thing.”

Would he, though? Hawkeye is good, but he’s not her. Natasha is used to the espionage, but is he? Could he handle it? She knees someone; he goes down as Hawkeye takes out another with a punch.

Hank returns from his ants and switches into his normal size. “I don’t believe that. Hawkeye was your partner and your friend. Couldn’t you have just tried trusting him?”

The last enemy rushes up to Natasha, she takes him out easily. Hydra does not train their soldiers well. “No.”

“I just don’t understand that.”

Something switches in Hawkeye and he stands a little straighter. There is a smile hidden in his face.

“I do. I don’t like it, but I get it. Undercover is undercover.”

So, all he needed was someone to take his viewpoint just so he could disagree. She forces herself not to smirk.

“She couldn’t have gained Strucker’s trust without doing what she did.” He looks at her, now. Properly looks. “I must’ve been one big pain in your backside.”

“You’ve no idea.” Now she smiles. Ant-Man says something but she’s not really listening. If he weren’t here, she could just say--

A beep goes off in her pocket.

“That one.” She points at the nearest Hydra vessel. “That’s the one the tracer signal is on.

Ant-Man - Giant-Man? She can’t quite figure him out - literally plucks the ship out of the sky and the remaining Hydra soldiers fall out.

“Baron Strucker wanted you to have this. Traitor.”

Her tracer. Shit.

“Come on. We have to move.”

Hawkeye shoots an arrow up at the jet and soon they’re all inside. Flying for a few moments, they locate Strucker using one of Tony’s gadgets. Clint stops in front of a window.

“I’ll shoot you to him.”

Hank looks at him, mouth open. “What?”

“Get on my arrow. I’ll shoot you to him.” Clint waggles the arrow in front of Hank’s face.

“That does not sound good.”

“Come on, Hank. We don’t have time.”

Hank shrinks himself to ant size and lets Clint pick him up and places him on the arrowhead. He lies flat against it.

“You’re sure you can make this shot?”

“He’ll make it.”

Hawkeye takes the shot and sure enough, Hank goes shooting across the distance, smashing windows as he goes. Soon, he is out of sight.

Clint turns to Natasha and takes off his mask. She had almost forgotten his face without it. She’d never told him how ridiculous the costume made him look, or how much she liked it despite.

There was the slightest tan line across his nose and cheeks, barely visible in this light. She didn’t remember that being there. Had she simply forgotten, or was it new? It had only been three months.

His nose she remembers perfectly. She broke it on one of their first assignments. It was his fault. He got in her way.

She almost requested a new partner, thinking he was a bit of an idiot, but something about him, even then when she barely knew him, made her change her mind. She couldn’t figure it out for the longest time.

And now she knows but she needs to ignore that because they’re on a mission. They cannot afford distraction.

“Thanks,” he says.

He startles her and she jumps. “What?”

He runs a hand through his hair, opens his mouth, thinks better of it.

Pulling the mask back on, he pulls his seatbelt across his chest and straps it in.

“Nothing. We should get to the warehouse.”