Wait a sec! You can't say the thing about nearly fracturing their partnership and not tell us what happened dammit ;)

There's fic about that, actually. Unposted, still in pieces in my Scrivener file(s), but it's going to be a thing eventually in "The Weight of Us". But here's the basic story (warnings for RR evilness and non-graphic mentions of sociopathic children ala The Bad Seed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bad_Seed), which I had to read in college and is terrifying).

So, this one time, in Bulgaria, Clint nearly got himself killed (http://archiveofourown.org/works/498628/chapters/988526). And that left him laid up in the hospital for weeks, and more recovery after that, so SHIELD sent Natasha out on an undercover mission by herself. She was supposed to be looking into a mid-level weapons dealer named Draykov, who as it happened needed a new nanny for his daughter. He was specifically looking for someone with self-defense training, and SHIELD and Natasha figured that's what you did when you did business with people like warlords and other assorted bad guys.

When Natasha got there, and charmed him into giving her the job, she found out that he wasn't trying to find someone who could protect his daughter from other people.

He wanted someone who could protect other people from his daughter.

The last nanny had met an uncertain end, and from what Natasha could glean there might've been some other household staff that also "left" under mysterious circumstances. Draykov knew exactly what his daughter was, mind you, and was horrified by it, but he also loved her and wanted to protect her, and he was trying to do what he thought was best for her. He sold weapons to terrible people, but on a personal level, he actually wasn't that bad a guy.

He did make some poor choices, however, one of which turned out to be getting into bed with the Red Room (or what was left of it) on a weapons deal that didn't work out. And they showed up to deal with the situation when Natasha had been undercover there for a couple months or so, and this didn't end at all well for Draykov, but it also put Natasha into a tail spin and face-to-face with one of her former trainers, the Winter Soldier.

At this point, she'd called SHIELD and they'd sent in the backup, which included Clint, who was technically "better" but who probably still should've been at home on the couch or something. He gets hurt, again, and this all ends up with Natasha and Clint and the girl in a standoff with the Winter Soldier, who offers to make Natasha a deal. He'll spare Clint's life, and let her go, if she gives him the girl.

Now, here are the key things to point out about this situation. First, TWS makes some compelling (not necessarily right or accurate, but compelling) points about the Red Room being the best place for someone like Rudmilla, that they'll have the best chance of directing her impulses and giving her a life, versus a life spent in institutions or prisons otherwise. Second, there may or may not be some residual triggers and/or conditioning going on in Natasha's head in regards to listening to him. Third, they're in a position where TWS really could - and would - kill Clint before she could stop him. She's already - literally - got Clint's blood on her hands right then and she remembers what it was like thinking he was going to die in Bulgaria.

So she lets him take the girl.

Now, all Clint knows or sees of this, having just gotten to the party (as it were) is that Natasha trades this kid for their lives. And he is infuriated by it. Natasha sort of tries to explain what's going on, and that the girl isn't just an innocent child, but he's not really listening, and she's too angry to push it. And so they go back and let it sit.

It's the first real fight they've ever had. Natasha is turning a lot of her anger about what's happening inward, because she hates herself for that moment of weakness (she sees it that way) and what she did, and maybe a little bit for letting herself get to where she cares enough about someone else (Clint) that she's got a weak spot. And the overwhelming feeling of being back in the Room even for an instant, she's furious about that. And Clint is mad because there was a child involved and also because he can't help but wonder if he actually knows what he thought he did about the type of person Natasha is and if he made the right decision when he brought her in, and he'd always thought that he was the person who could see through her covers, and who knew her inside and out (and he is, and he does) but he can't help but worry that maybe he really doesn't and that she's been playing him this whole time, too, that she's really that good of an actress and spy (she is, of course, but not with him).

They still work together, and get the job done, and in the process they're driving Coulson absolutely insane because there's so much tension he feels like he's about to break, let alone them. And it's not the fun kind of "will they or won't they" tension that legendary SHIELD betting pools are born from, no, this is the kind that he knows from past experience will lead to someone making a potentially fatal mistake on an op someday. He's not going to let that happen to his best team, dammit.

So he hands them packs and shoves them onto a transport and dumps them out in the middle of the Mexican jungle and basically leaves them there on trumped up stake-out duty until they either work it out or kill one another. He's really not sure which is more likely when he drops them off.

It takes them a solid month before they start talking again.

He leaves them there another three weeks just to be on the safe side.

(The end(ish) of the Mexican op is here (http://archiveofourown.org/works/498628/chapters/988531).)

Meaning to respond to this!!! This is amazing!!! I am entralled. I can't wait to read the entire fic.

The psychology of Natasha during their first fight is insanely fascinating to me.

Thank you!