Clint x Natasha FanFic's

Nothing Else Matters by TashaBlackWidow

She started to fall, surrendering to the will of gravity when her legs gave way beneath her, but she never felt herself hit the floor. Clint had already dropped with her, catching her in his arms before she could hit the ground, which would only have caused her more pain. She fell limp into his arms, feeling his embrace turn rigid as he did his best to stall the bleeding with one hand and hold her at the same time. Impulse took over, emergency medical training they'd all received as mandatory sessions taking over his mind just like the blood seeping over her body.

"Natasha..." he muttered, looking down at her dazed face.

She looked up at him, and he could see that she was already fighting consciousness through the pain. His heart would have fallen inside his chest but it had already dropped beyond recovery and could fall no further. If she fell unconscious he was afraid she'd never wake up again, especially with the amount of blood. It was the blood that stopped him doing what he wanted to do; the part of him that loved her wanted to hold her so tightly to him that it would be impossible for her to leave him, but the rational part of his mind, the part that was her partner and not her lover, told him that by doing these he'd cause her more pain and allowed his training to take over, pressing down on her wound and keeping as much blood in her body as possible until help arrived.

Her green eyes were round and moist, glistening with an unusual fear as she blinked rapidly. She struggled to focus on something around her, anything, until her eyes found his and he held her gaze fiercely. He gathered her more tightly in his arms, cradling her head in the crook of his elbow mindful of the would. By now, her blood was seeping through his fingertips, staining her entire front and most of his too. He thought of all the organs that could have been perforated by a bullet in that location, this amount of blood from one bullet terrifying him.

"Clint," she gasped, pain lost in her voice as it was too overcome with fear and shock.

His heart pound even louder. They'd been through so much over the years but he'd never, not once, heard her sound this afraid before. He swore at himself, unsure whether or not he'd actually said it out loud but he didn't care. He should have reacted sooner, he should have been able to do something, anything, to prevent their target making that shot, especially at her. He should never have dropped his guard. He shouldn't have allowed her to be in that much danger. That was his job, right? That was what a partner was supposed to do. He should have protected her before the shot was made.

"Oh god..." he almost whimpered, feeling a bile rise in his throat but he choked it down as he bent his wrist, bringing a hand to her cheek while cradling her head. He needed to feel her skin but didn't dare release any of the pressure he was pressing on the wound. "Nat..."

He watched as her lips rose slightly at the corners, but he couldn't meet her smile despite the emotions flooding through him. She always had a smirk on her lips when he called her 'Nat', more so than when he deliberately dragged out the syllables of her name. No one else called her that besides him. It was special like that, even though he'd never intended it to be. It was just easier to choke out when she would floor him in the training room and he was trying not to speak too much in case she really had broken his ribs in training...again.

But this wasn't the training room. He wasn't leaning over her, apologising for landing her too hard on her back even though the apology alone would see him on his own back within seconds. He wasn't cradling her head because she'd landed wrong and the medics had put him in charge of keeping her still until they were done checking her neck. He wasn't pressing his hand to her stomach to keep her pinned to the bed like those endless hotel room encounters after missions. He wasn't tracing a hand down her cheek as he was telling her those three words that she didn't want him to say but secretly adored to hear.