A Gift From: mac409
Type Of Gift: Fic
Title: Christmas past and present
A Gift For: only_because3
Rating: K
Warnings: mention of coma and head injury
Summary/Prompt Used: Clint fell out of a building again and thinks about past Chrismases he spend with Natasha.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this little fic, Marry Christmas!


banner by ohmydarlingdear

He couldn't see but everything felt foggy. His head hurt. The last thing he could remember was being pushed out a 2nd floor window, on the mission he and Nat took for Coulson on the 15th December, that would explain the head and the fog.
Christmas. Huh, why did he just think Christmas? The thought had suddenly popped into his head. Then he could hear Natasha from faraway. Did he turn his hearing aids on low? "It's gonna be Christmas in 5 days. You have to wake up or you will miss it." 5 days till Christmas? 15th to 25th is 9 days, where did the other 4 days go? "You and I both know that you'll be upset later if you spend Christmas in this coma." Aw, coma.
"You remember our first Christmas? I was..." Her voice trailed off as his thoughts drifted off to Christmas eve '99 fifteen years ago.
Clint was on his way to see Natasha, it was Christmas eve he was carrying two cups of chocolate pudding and had something red and white and a black box clamped under his arm.
"You pulled the Christmas shift, Bill?" Clint asked the Shield agent standing on guard. "Yes, you're here to see the Black Widow?"
"Yup."
Bill opened the security door so Clint could enter the prison wing. Natasha had been downgraded from super max to medium security, which Clint knew she could escape any time she wanted, two days ago. Not that she couldn't escape super max, it would just take her a day or two to plan.
Clint had brought Natasha in 2 month ago her deprogramming had been officially finished three weeks ago. But they had kept her in super max to keep her under surveillance, he had wanted to downgraded her to medium for 2 week two days ago they finally listened to him.
He stopped in front of her cell, it was a door in a wall now no bars anymore. He looked up at the camera so who ever sat behind it today would open her door for him. Clint stepped inside and the door looked behind him.
Natasha looked up at him she already knew it was him, he always made sure his steps were loud enough for her to hear so she knew he was in front of her cell.
"Hey." He smiled and she couldn't help a smile tuck at her lips. She set the book down, they allowed her books know, paper no hard covers but she didn't care, it didn't change the words inside.
"Hey, you too. What do you have there?" She asked pointing at the black box. She trusted Clint but still felt a little weary of this strange box and sat up a little straighter on her bed. Clint smiled and sat down on the edge of the bed and let the box glide from und his arm on her bed a red and white cloth came with it, too.
"It's a portable VCR player." He told her happily and handed her the two pudding cups so his hands were free. "I already eat." She protested but took them anyways. "I know but you can never have enough chocolate pudding on Christmas eve." He told her seriously but with a twinkle in his eyes and picked up the cloth. It turned out to be a stocking with her name on it.
"Need a stocking, too or Santa won't know where to find you." He told her grinning and got up to hang the stoking on the wall opposite her bed with what she assumed was double-sided tape. She was going to say something that Santa was only for good people and that she was in prison but didn't because he looked happy doing this for her.
"Sorry, that is all they would let me bring." He apologized.
Natasha shock her head and smiled at him. "It is more than I had hoped for. Also I never really celebrated Christmas before unless a mission involved a Christmas gala or something."
"Next year we'll get you the full Christmas experience we can decorate your room or apartment of base or both."
Natasha couldn't help but shake her head a smile tugging on her lips. Clint was a genuine good guy he didn't saw a problem why she should have an apartment in year she wasn't so sure if she even would be allowed off base unsupervised by then let alone live off base.
"You will get out of here." He told her knowing what was going on in her head right now. "They're going to put you in minimum security next week. Then you will get a SO, training and on base living quarters. Not that you need the training you'll probable give your SO a run for their memory but it's protocol or something. At least they won't make you go though academy." Clint joked sitting back down on the side of her bed.
Natasha smiled happy about the lightened mood with Clint around even a prison cell wasn't so gloomy.
"So what did you bring the VCR player for?" She asked.
Clint smiled brightly. "Christmas specials of cause I got some on a video for you. We can watch them and eat chocolate pudding." He said opening the player so the small screen was visible. Natasha held a pudding cup out to him and indicated for him to sit next to her.
They set the player down on their knees and Clint started the video.
"Why is the animation so..?" Natasha asked after a few minutes.
"Bad?" Clint offered chuckling between spoons full of pudding. "Because those are pretty old from when I was a kid."
Natasha nodded and smiled when her eyes landed on the sock Clint hung on the wall for her. This was nice. She still didn't know how Clint forgave her for what she did when they first meet. Three years ago. She had seduced him and used him for her plans but some time along the way she had really fallen for him and she had wanted to be a better person and left the red room to try but they found her and renewed her programming. But all that didn't matter anymore. She was here now and had a chance to try and clear her lager at least a little. Which was more than she had ever hoped for before. Because he had made a different call.
They spend the rest of the evening eating pudding and watching those crappy animate Christmas specials and it was perfect. In the morning Clint 'snuck' inside her room and filled her sock with some sweets a book and a movie, he had conveniently left the player in her room before.
"What to watch that with me?" Natasha asked when Clint was about to sneak back out again. Clint stood up straight and smiled at her. "Merry Christmas."

Clint could hear Natashas voice again though the fog. "You stayed and we watched the video of Mulan you had just put in my stocking on that VCR player." He could feel her hand holding his. "You would just come and bring the video and sit back next to me on the bed you made me get up and unpack everything because that is 'how Christmas works'." She chuckled but it was a teary chuckle. He was really scaring her. He needed to wake up but everything was foggy on big cloud in his head. He scared her and would Christmas and if he spend Christmas in this hospital so would she. Just like he had a few years ago.

His mind drifted off again. To the Christmas they spend together on his farm in 2007. The actual Christmas had been spend in a Shield hospital. They were on a mission in Spain they had been partners for over nearly seven years by then. Strike Team Delta held Shields all-time mission record. Unfortunately this time they ran into some Red Room associates and hidden partitions of Natashas old programming were triggered. She broke free from the program in time to take a bullet for Clint and save his life. They had somehow managed to blow the hell out of the place and get out in time. Somehow Natasha had kept fighting even with the bullet wound only collapsing after they got out. Clint got her into the nearest hospital and Coulson got them into the US two days later that had been on Christmas eve Natasha had to stay in the medically induced coma for Christmas to help her heal. Thankfully she healed a lot faster than Clint ever would. By the 28th see was a lot better but still on bed rest and not able to do a lot by herself but ready to leave the medical bay which drove her crazy. So Clint broke her out with Coulsons permission.
Natasha lay in her hospital bed in pain and bored when Clint came in with a happy smile on his face. "Ready to leave this place?"
"Ha, ha, very funny, Barton. If I could I would be long gone." She told him annoyed why was he teasing her know?
"But it is my Christmas present to you." He step back out in the hall and came back with a stretcher. "We are getting out of here." He got her onto the stretcher and into one of Shields unmarked ambulances from the outside they looked like a normal back van but inside they looked like a regular ambulance.
He had spoken to her doctors they didn't like it but agreed that nothing bad would happen as long as Clint followed their instructions. A nurse walked them to the ambulance and gave Natasha pain medication that would knocked her out for most of the ride much to Natashas protest.
"Please, Nat. It's a long trip and I don't know how bumpy or not the roads will be. I don't want you to be in unnecessary pain."
"Fine, I'll take them."
The nurse hung the IV bag pain killers up whished them a save trip and then left. Clint was in the back with Natasha and smiled happily at her. "Ready for our tip?"
"Where are we going?"
"It's a secret."
"So that's why we're not taking a quinjet."
"Yeah, sorry. We can go somewhere else." Clint offered.
"No, I wanna see your safe house." Natasha insisted but her voice started to get a little slurry.
"Okay, then you sleep for a bit okay?"
"Kay." Natasha said sleepy. Healing always made her tired and the strong pain killers didn't help to keep her awake.
The drive was uneventful. Natasha woke up a few times for a half an hour talked to Clint and then fell asleep again. After ten hours of driving they reached Clints farm in Iowa, hey had luckily been in a Colorado Shield base and not a Californian one. Clint went inside and quickly took care of some things. Made the couch for Natasha to lay on.
When he got back into the ambulance Natasha began to wake up once more. "Hey, we are here." Clint smiled at her and Natasha smiled back winching a little when she moved her arm and tugged at her IV line which got caught somewhere. "Can we get rid of that?" She asked him hopefully.
"Yes, they wanted it to stay for the ride but gave me pills for you now." Clint said before gently taking out the IV. Then he picked her up and carried her out of the ambulance. And once Natasha saw where they were she couldn't help but chuckle. "You got a safe farm, Clint." He just smiled. "Yup."
He carried her inside and put her down on the couch. "I will get your room ready for you than get your stuff. Clint went into the guest bedroom, opened the window for fresh air, cleaned up and made the bed. He wasn't here often so everything looked a little left alone. He got Natasha stuff from the car and then carried her into her room. "Sleep some more and call me if you need something. I got to take care of some things." Clint said.
Three hours later he came back into the room. "Hey."
"Hey, yourself. Done with your things?" She asked still a little sleepy.
"Yup." Clint grinned and went to pick her up.
"You should rest you, it's our vacation time after all."
Clint nodded. "I should." and carried her out of the room Natasha grasped when she saw what he had done to the place. First he had cleaned out the dust then drowned the house in Christmas decorations and lights. "It is beautiful." Natasha said as Clint put her down on the couch. "Maybe a bit over the top but beautiful." She joked.
"I didn't even get the tree yet." Clint smiled.
"You're gonna go into the woods and get a tree?" She asked but it sounded more like a assessment of what he was going to do anyway.
"Yes, I'll be back in half an hour, okay?" He asked handing her the TV remote.
"Okay, but please don't cut yourself okay?"
Clint smiled brightly. "Okay." And went to get the three.
He really was back half an hour later with an actually nice tree but had managed to cut himself. "It's not bad I promise." Clint showed her the cut, so she wouldn't worry, before covering it with some gauze.
Clint decorated the tree under Natashas instructions as she wasn't allowed to get up. He put the last empty boxes away when the door bell rang. I was the Chinese food he had ordered an nearly two hours ago, it was a one hour drive into town.
So this Christmas eve, it was actually the 29th but nobody cared, was spend eating Chinese and watching Christmas specials on Clints over decorated Iowa farm, they loved every second of it.
They sheared the big bed as they sometimes did. It kept most of the nightmares away.
On Christmas morning, the 30th, Clint woke Natashas up to breakfast in bed, pancakes.
"Where did you get pancakes? Don't tell me you got cows and chickens?" Natasha asked confused no sure where he could have gotten the ingredients from, she had felt him leave the bad only an hour ago.
"No, animals yet maybe someday. I'm not here often enough. But I have my ways." He answered mysteriously.
Then Natasha remembered the Chinese. "You had the delivery boy do some shopping for you." She concluded.
Clint laughed, she got him. "Pancakes?"
"Yes, please."

Clint could feel the fog lift. He could feel Natashas hand better against his and tried to squeeze her hand back. He fought to open his eyes. "Clint! Clint can you hear me?" She sounded closer.
"Tasha." He managed to get out.
"Thank god. I thought you had maybe decided to leave after we just started trying again." Natasaha tried to joke but her chuckle sounded teary.
Clint forced his eyes open. "Never." He said squeezing her hand again.
"I'm so glad you woke up."
"Did want to celebrate Christmas 5 days to late." He tried to joke but winced in pain when he had to laugh.
"Easy." Natasha told him softly with a smile.

Clint was allowed to go home on Christmas eve because Natasha promised the doctors she would look after him and keep him from doing stupid stuff.
Natasha had spoken to Kate she would come back to New York for the holidays and bring Lucky. She had asked her to hang up some of Clints Christmas decoration before they got there.
When they stepped into the apartment the only thing Natasha could think was, Hawkeyes they too alike. It appeared that Kate had hung up at the decorations she could find.
"Kate." Clint greeted happily then was greeted by an excited Lucky. "I missed you, too, buddy." He said leaning down to scratch Luckys head.
Natasha smiled at the exchange she helped Clint hobbled over to the couch, his knee had taken a hit too in his fall. Clint happily petted Lucky and talked to him telling him that he had missed him. Natasha left the room to look around and organize some things ordering pizza and putting new sheets in Clints bed.
Clint mentioned for Kate to come over, he tugged her down to sit next to him to he could hug her. "I missed you, Kate. I'm glad you came back."
"I'm glad, too, Hawkguy." She said and hugged him back. They let go after a moment and set next to each other on the couch.
"So, you and the Russian super spy, again?" Kate asked after a moment of silence.
"Yeah, it was time. It was always her."
Kate nodded she could understand him in theory but she had never fallen in love like that but hoped that someday she would. Clint and Natasha were always there for each other if they were dating or not, they had something special.
Natasha came back when she felt she gave them enough time to talk. "I ordered pizza."
"I love you." Clint told her smiling and Lucky barked happily at the mention of pizza.
Kate ended up in Clints lazy boy while Clint laid down on the couch with his head on Natashas lap and her fingers threading through his hair again and again. Clint felt like that eased his headache more than the pain killer did.
They spend the rest of their Christmas eve eating pizza, watching cheesy Christmas specials and talking about Kates time in LA.