Title: The Hawk and the Spider (6/6)
Author: sgteam14283
A Gift For: nessataleweaver
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: language, violence
Pairings: Clint/Natasha
Summary/Prompt Used: As a bounty hunter, Clint never let it get personal. Then he met Natasha./ steampunk/western (historical) promts filled.
Authors Notes: really had fun writing this since I love steampunk but since it was also a Western I made it so that steampunk wasn't so saturated in the outer territories, but they still used all that awesome stuff. Also I tried to make everything as accurate as possible. Don't own anything, I just have fun playing in the sandbox!



Chapter Six

Clint was up early the next morning to start saddling the horses and had just finished when he heard the crunch of snow. He looked up to see that it was Trick and while double checking that the bridle was tight said, “I don't want to hear it.”

“I wasn't going to say anything. I just came to give you some supplies, it's a long ride.” Trick responded while holding up the saddle bags he carried.

“Thanks.” Clint nodded while taking them. “Shouldn't be too long-if we push it we could make it to the fort in a week.”

“Just be careful crossing the river, it tends to rise up unexpectedly this time of year.”

Clint sighed and turned around to face his friend, taking off his stetson to run his fingers through his hair. “Trick...you said that I'm meant for something bigger. What where you talking about?”

“Just be careful, Clint.”

Clint couldn't help but smile a little, that was just like him; say something mysterious and then leave it to Clint to figure out what it meant. Then he spotted Natasha approaching them and nodded, “I'll try not to be near death the next time I visit.”

“Promises, promises.” Trick said as he embraced Clint and left, nodding at Natasha as he passed.

“Ready?” Clint asked as she neared him.

She nodded and held out her hands for Clint to bind again. So when he handed her the reins to the second horse Natasha paused, not sure what to think. “You're not trying me up?”

Clint shrugged as he shifted the reigns to one hand and swung up onto his ride, “Like you said, where are you gonna run?”

Natasha was silent as she settled herself onto the saddle, silently admitting to herself that it was nice to have her hands and feet free while riding. “Now I just need a window of opportunity to present itself.” she thought as they galloped away from the encampment.

--

Clint was true to his word and pushed hard as he dared to reach the fort within a week-riding long after the sun had set and the stars had come out. He didn't want to admit it, but the reason for the sprint towards the end was because Clint was afraid that if he lingered then something would happen that he'd regret. Better to keep his thoughts to himself than speak them and couldn't take them back.

Natasha was also silent, but for a different reason. She was watching, waiting for the right moment to make her move; knowing that if wasn't executed perfectly then the house of cards she had build would come tumbling down. But at the same time she wanted the truth to finally come out, no matter how much Natasha knew she'd been compromised and wanted to minimize the damage already done.

She had to kill Clint and collect her own bounty for it.

--
Clint's still healing body protested as he dismounted but he ignored it, once he got back to Colorado he could relax. Until then he'd push until they reached their destination. Pushing back his hat, Clint scratched his head while saying, “Guess we can call it a day.”

Natasha shrugged, “If you say so.” Neither one still slept, so she didn't understand stopping each night but could see that Clint's wounds were forcing them too. Camp was quickly set up and soon they were eating.

“My first kill was Alexi.” Natasha blurted out, not able to take the silence any longer.

Clint's only reaction was a raised eyebrow and then asked, “Who was he?”

Natasha looked into the fire while talking, “He was a member of the Imperial family who discovered the Red Room, where I was trained, and raised his objections over children being turned into perfect assassins. The Czar never liked the man so it was a convenient excuse to have him killed. It was my first solo mission and I felt confident going with the cover as a ballerina from the Imperial Russian Ballet. But something happened that they didn't count on.”

“What?”

“I fell in love with him.” She stated simply, still not being able to look at him. “But I killed Alexi anyways.”

Clint was silent for a second before asking the question on his mind, “Did you ever fall in love with a target again?”

Natasha drew her eyes away from the fire and looked at Clint, “Once more. He knew and I...this time I just couldn't.”

Clint didn't respond until the fire had almost died out, “I met Katie while Barney was meeting with her father-both were smuggling aether in from Canada but I didn't find that out until later. She was a hell of a shot with a rifle and stole my heart. I'd see her whenever Barney have t' make a run for her father and he'd drag me along for protection since we were running our own freelance operation. Pretty soon we made plans to run away out West. Then I found out what Barney was really doing and turned him into the Marshal's; they set up a trap and he almost got killed. Barney figured out that I was the one who talked, so he decided to harm me the only way he knew how; he kidnapped Katie and set out for Dakota. I hunted him and his crew down and tried to get her back but Barney...well, I'm sure you saw the bullet wound. Never was able to figure out what happened to her and Lord know's I tried.”

They didn't speak the rest of the night, each lost in thoughts from the past. Only when the sky began to lighten did Clint suggest as they get an early start and two days later they reached the river that separated them from Fort Clarke. Clint stood on the bank of the expanse and tried to see if there was a place that narrowed so they could ford it in relative safety.

“I think our best bet is to cross here and-” Clint started to say as he turned around but cut off when he faced Natasha who was aiming a pistol at him.

“You really should have kept me tied up.” Natasha deadpanned as she pulled back the hammer. “Put up your hands.”

Clint raised an eyebrow as he did as he was told, “I though I got all your weapons.”

“You can thank Trick, he gave it to me. I don't know why, but it always amuses me that even the most loyal of friends have a price.” She smirked as she moved closer.

For once Clint didn't have a witty comeback, Trick's betrayal hurting almost as much as when Barney shot him. He glanced towards his bow, which was a few feet away on his ride. Maybe if he bolted...

“Don't even think about going for you bow, you'll be dead before you get to it.” Natasha stated, knowing from his expression what he was thinking.

Clint scowled, hating that Natasha was as good as him and seemed to know his every move. “Did you plan this all along? Make it look like you didn't want to be taken alive and were desperate enough to attack me?”

Natasha smiled, “And did you really think it was that easy, capturing the Black Widow? Weren't you the least bit suspicious back at Nevada Sparks when I said that maybe the Sheriff wasn't my target? Granted I didn't count on Wade showing up, but I think that little wrinkle was handled rather nicely.” She then grew serious and looked Clint in the eyes, “I did mean it when I said we made a good pair-if I didn't have to kill you then I'd suggest we team up. We'd be a hell of a force to reckon with.”

As Natasha talked, Clint slowly lowered a hand. If he could just reach his gun... “Hand up, Barton.” Damn. Knowing that he'd be dead in a few seconds, Clint decided risk it and leapt towards Natasha while reaching for the gun.
Natasha pulled the trigger as Clint jumped towards her but misjudged the kick and the bullet sailed harmlessly over his shoulder. Clint landed on her and they collapsed to the ground, the pistol flying away from them. Knowing that he had to get it before she did, Clint scrambled up and started towards it but Natasha grabbed his ankle and yanked; sending him crashing to the ground once again.

Getting up, Natasha brushed hair away from her face and scrambled towards the saddle-bags where her weapons were stored. If she could get at least a few knives then she'd be able to more than hold her own. Halfway there she felt hands grip her waist, dragging her back. Not wanting to go easily, Natasha stomped on his foot and then kneed him in the crotch.

Letting out a strangled grunt, Clint loosened his grip on her and she took the advantage-bolting to grab any kind of weapon. Her hands closed around the hilt of a blade and she whipped around, throwing it as she did. The blade embedded itself in Clint's shoulder and he grimaced.

Wanting to end this, he pulled it out and then drew his own knife-throwing it at Natasha. But his arm was still healing so it wasn't as powerful as normally so she easily dodged it. Natasha couldn't help but laugh, “You missed.”

“What part of I don't miss don't you get? If you hadn't moved then it would've hit you.” he shot back while pulling out his Peacemaker and aiming at her. “Give up or I swear I'll shoot you.”

Natasha smirked, “If you were going to then you would've done it already. You've gone soft Hawkeye, just admit it.” She then ran towards him and pushed hard, sending him tumbling down the embankment and into the water. Grinning wickedly, she picked up the knife she'd thrown and scrambled down to where Clint was-putting a foot on his chest so he couldn't move.

“Now stay still so I can kill you and get my money.” She said in a silky voice. Natasha looked into Clint's eyes and for a second felt her conscious give a slight tug; she really did care for Clint and she didn't have to do this, she could let him go and move on and try to forget everything that had happened. But then the moment passed and the hardness in her eyes returned. But that didn't stop her from saying, “For what it's worth I'm sorry.”

“Yeah, me too.” Clint said with a bit of remorse in his voice. Then he grabbed Natasha's foot and pulled, sending her flying into the water. Moving quickly, he grabbed her neck and held her underwater for a few seconds before bringing her up. “If you were going to kill me you would've already done it.”

Natasha could hold her breath for longer than she was under but still came up sputtering. Thrashing around, she tried to loosen Clint's hold on her but he waded deeper into the river until the water was chest-level. After the third time she was dunked under the water Natasha stopped struggling. However Clint didn't loosen his hold, he'd been bitten to many times by her tricks and wasn't about to fall for another one. “Now was-” Clint started to say but was quickly drowned out by the sound of water rushing towards them. He looked up to see rapids quickly coming their way and struggled against the current to get to the bank before it reached them, but it was too fast and the water slammed into them like a locomotive.

The last thing he saw before blacking out was Natasha being torn from his grip and being swallowed by the rapids.

--

“Did you find her?” Clint asked after walking into the post commander's office. He'd just gotten the green light from Doctor Banner to leave the infirmary and had wanted to see if the search for Natasha had turned up anything. Clint still didn't remember much, but they told him that a scouting party had found him ten miles from the original crossing point, half-dead (again. Clint wasn't liking the trend that he'd started to notice).

After bringing him back to the fort, Hill organized a search pattern for Natasha but so far it hadn't resulted in any promising leads.

Maria shook her head, “I'm going to end the search, we haven't found any clues that she's alive or dead. It's going on three weeks and the fort can't spare any more resources, they have better things to do at the moment-there's been a rise in raids and they're stretched thin until the new garrison can be built.”

Clint nodded, not saying anything but his mind buzzing; they hadn't found any sign that she was alive or dead but this was the Black Widow they were talking about-if she didn't want any trace then she wouldn't leave one. Besides, he had a feeling that she was still alive.

“You'll still be paid, Hawkeye.” Maria continued, turning to face Clint. “Actually Fury was surprised that you had her in custody as long as you did, given her reputation. And he's given me permission to make you an offer, what do you know about A.R.M.O.U.R.?”


Ten years later...

Clint peered through the scope of his rifle and waited for his target to appear. Fury had given him the dossier on Natalie Rushman and the children's hospital fire that got her on A.R.M.O.U.R.'s radar in a bad way. From what he read he was more than eager to take her out. Paying the local street sparrows to keep an eye out for someone with her description had paid off so now he was perched across the street from her residence and waited to spot her.

Seeing movement towards the edge of the magnifier, Clint shifted it a little bit and spotted her-eyes going wide when she turned around and he saw who it was.

Natasha.

Feeling his heart start to pound, Clint knew he had to pull the trigger and kill her. But...he just couldn't. Then she stepped inside and the opportunity gone.

Lowering the rifle, Clint leaned his back against the wall and waited for his heart to stop rushing. As he waited, he tried to comprehend what he'd just seen. Obviously she'd survived the rapids but why continue as the Black Widow? Why continue to kill when he saw that there was good inside of her-she could have killed him time and time again on their ride. Even when he was dying from infection she could've left him and gone her own way, but she saved him. At the river too, Natasha could have killed him and collected the money but she didn't.

Clint thought back to how she'd said that she'd fallen for a target twice but couldn't kill the second one. Him.

Coming to a realization, Clint quickly scrawled a note and attached it to one of his arrows. Smiling to himself he aimed and shot the arrow towards the door.

“She's alive!” his heart sang as he watched the door open and Natasha see the arrow.

And he was making a different call this time.