The next couple of days they rode around the city, trying to find a lead on the boat, the driver or even the missing scientist. Frustration began to set in. Nick Fury finally approved the go-fast boat for Barton's race at the end of the week. The race would go out to the Spratly Islands and back. There were seven boats that were participating in the race. It was $312,750,000 dong or $15 000 USD entry fee.
Natasha looked at Barton when they picked up the go-fast boat from another S.H.E.I.L.D. agent and went for a ride. "Have you ever raced one of these boats?"
"Not personally been the driver, but as part of the crew."
"Really, when?"
Clint grinned at her, "I had a life too before I became an agent. Before I met you." He opened the throttle and they shot down the channel towards open ocean.
Romanoff sat down in the co-pilot seat and put on the seat belt. The black boat sliced through the waves, better than any other speedboat she'd been on. When they caught air going over a big wave, it made her nervous, but gave an exhilarating feeling too.
"What's so difficult about this? The power of the boat does all the work."
"Take the wheel and give it a try," Clint said.
She did as he said and they then changed places. Then she felt it, to hold the boat on course, required skill. The waves wanted to tip them over. Romanoff gave the wheel back to him.
"When there is wake from another boat, especially when there is one on each side of you, it's really hard to keep her steady. Learning to take the best path, with least resistance is part of the skill. Then knowing when to use your throttle and gas mixture, all factor into it."
To prove his point he followed the wake left by a cruise ship and it felt like being hit by a battering ram. Barton steered them clear and headed back inland. Going up the channel, he reduced the speed considerably. They cruised to a dock that was along the Ton Duc Thang. This is where they tied the boat and paid off the dock manager.
"So does this make me part of your crew?" Natasha asked.
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
She nodded. "Are we going back to Lush tonight? If I recall correctly, a blond asian is waiting for you to dance with her."
He looked at his partner. Did he detect a little jealousy in her tone? With a straight face Clint answered, "I have to go, since Long and his buddies will be there to finalize race details. You don't have to come if you want to go elsewhere."
"No that's fine. I liked that place. And it's not often I get to have this kind of fun on a job," Natasha winked.
"Keep your eyes out for Russians or anyone else who looks out of place. If our friends want a way out of Ho Chi Min city without drawing too much attention, then they'll want to get information on the race tomorrow night."
"Should we pack our gear and put it in the boat, incase we see the HYDRA agents or the Russians and have to pursue?" Natasha asked.
"Good idea. We should check out tomorrow morning too," Clint said.
They got on their dirt bikes and rode back to the hotel. For once they didn't race each other. There was so much traffic; cars, humans, bicycles and mopeds. It took them longer than expected to get back to the hotel. Agent Barton talked to the front desk and arranged to exchange the motorbikes for a car. They would need a vehicle to take their gear to the boat, after the club, that night. Both checked their things and packed what they wouldn't need to go to the club. The rest would be done when they returned in the early am. Agent Romanoff reported in to S.H.E.I.L.D. and then they went sight seeing, to kill time.
Out of the blue Natasha said, "thanks for calming me down last night. I did end up falling asleep."
"No problem. It's a trick I learned when I was in the circus. The magician's assistant... man she was so sexy and flexible.... Anyway she was also a hypnotist and she taught me some tricks."
She gave him a sour look, "you hypnotized me?"
"Not really, it's more a method of meditation. I use it to calm people down. Helps when they're freaked out and you're trying to get information out of them."
"Does it work on yourself or just other people?"
"Do you want me to teach you how to do it? You can try it on yourself, I've never had to," Clint said.
Natasha nodded. "Thanks."
They went to sit at a local bar for a drink and a snack. Since she seemed to be open to conversation, he decided to see if she'd talk about her dream. "Do you want to try and tell me what the dream was about?"
Romanoff looked at her drink and played with it. She didn't know if she could face it, even with his help. "When they were training us, things they put us through, some of it destroyed people and others we just wanted to kill everyone." Natasha paused and downed her drink, signalling the waiter for another. "I don't remember half of the stuff they did before I was sixteen, I guess I blocked it out. But a lot of the training has become like a reflex, so ingrained into me at an early age."
Clint noticed her hands turn to fists, "take your time, we have lots of it." His calm tone encouraged her, because Barton knew if he put a hand on her, she'd break it in seconds.
She took a deep breath, looking in his eyes. Natasha saw no pity, just calm strength. "The dream always starts out the same. I can't move, like my body is immobilized by drugs and not just with the tie downs on my legs and arms. My mind is awake and alert, but I can't even talk or scream. Someone comes, I can't see his face. He's.... He's touching me with cold hands...."
Romanoff stands up, wanting to hit something, wanting to run away, wanting to kill. All she sees is Barton, in front of her and she hears his voice, almost like he's far away and she's in a tunnel. Her breathing is loud in her ears. Slowly she regains control of herself and sits back down.
Clint is still talking, "you are safe and no one is hurting you. See me Nat, hear me. That's it, just breathe in and out, focus on your breathing, nice and slow."
The wild look in her eyes slowly went away and he knew she was back, no longer reliving the hell that gripped her mind. Barton was surprised when she grab his hand and even more so, when she continued telling him about the dream.
"His hands hurt and they touch me intimately. And it's not like a doctor's touch, he wants me to know he's enjoying it. He wants to break me mentally. Then the light shifts and I see his face, he's grinning and he says something....but that's when I woke up."
Romanoff's hand is gripping his like he's anchoring her to this world. It is strong, yet she is shaking. Clint's thumb caresses her hand. "If I hadn't woken you, do you still wake up on your own or does it continue? Do you ever hear what he says?"
Her mind was raw, she barely could think. She felt his thumb and focused on the circular motion it was doing on her hand. Natasha's voice trembled, "yes I've heard what he says."
Barton stood up and drew her up to stand too. Then he took her in his arms and held her. She didn't cry, but Clint could feel her whole body tremble. "Thank you for sharing with me."
She at first was stiff in his arms, but then realized because of his strength, she felt safe and protected. The trembling stopped, but Romanoff wasn't ready to let go. This was more intimate than if they had just had sex. Her mind was raw and he knew it, but helped her instead of abusing that power over her. Finally she stepped out of his arms, her normal self back.
"Waiter, a round of shots over here please."
They sat down and slammed back two shots each, in quick succession. Barton joked around with her and got her laughing and smiling. Eventually it reached her eyes too. After a bite to eat, they paid their bill and left. They had been at the bar much longer than it had seemed. The sun had set and the night had creeped in.
"Even after a few shots of liquor, I still drive better than the locals." Clint laughed and honked his horn at the car in front of them.
Natasha swore in vietnamese at the offending driver. Then said, "if we end up coming back here, I'll teach you a few key swear words."
They both smiled. The distance that Romanoff had felt growing between her and Barton, was gone. Back was her friend and partner. Once at the hotel, he sat on the balcony while she took over the bathroom to change. He was amazed that she had shown him her vulnerability and not killed him. Barton hoped this assignment gave them more time together, so he could help her with these nightmares.
"I'm all done. Bathroom's yours," Natasha said.
He turned around and stood up, his eyes roaming over her from head to toe. Clint's smile said everything. "Nice dress."
She smirked. "Thanks, the feel of it on my skin is amazing."
He raised an eyebrow and took her into his arms. He twirled her around and dipped her. "You're right. I recall a different dress you wore, that was similar."
"Very observant of you Mr. Hawkeye," she teased.
"Baby, it's just Hawkeye," he drawled in his best grand gentleman voice.
She playfully punched him in the arm. Then went to wait for him out on the balcony. Thirty minutes later he announced he was ready too. Barton wore dark dress pants and a dark dress shirt. He opened the door to the car for her and she got in. Then they drove to Lush. It was only nine in the evening, but they needed to arrive early to get a parking spot. They danced one latin-salsa hip pop song together, then split up. Soon the blond asian found Barton. She lead him to the guy setting up the race.
"Long," Clint said in greeting, holding out his hand.
Long shook it and got straight down to business. He took the money from all the participants, as he was not racing, just organizing the race. They would all meet at his marina and start the race out on the water. The race would begin at 6pm sharp. Anyone arriving late would just have to catch up to the other racers. Only participants who had bought into the race, could win the purse. Long gave them the directions to his marina.
"Excuse me gentleman, but that lady over there is just begging to meet me." Long departed and walked towards Romanoff.
"Now will you come dance," the blond asian asked.
Clint smiled, "I'm all yours."
As they walked down the stairs to the dance floor, he did notice two white guys that looked out of place. They held drinks, but never drank. They watched some of Long's friends that were in the race, but never talked them. He manoeuvred the blond closer to the men, trying to see if their wrists had the HYRDA tattoo. Unfortunately they went upstairs. He needed to get to Romanoff, so she could go to work and find out if his hunch was right.
"Honey, I am going up top to get a drink and cool off. I'll find you in a bit." Clint planted a quick kiss on the blond's painted lips.
She practically swooned and made sure her hand lingered on his bicep. "If you don't come back in ten minutes, I'll go find you."
He nodded and ditched her. On the second level, he saw Romanoff and nodded at her to come talk. She went to the bar and he stood beside her. "Two men, possibly HYDRA agents are watching Long's racing buddies. See if they are our guys. Both are tall, shaved heads, one has a gold watch, the other silver, both are Rolex. One has a grey suit on, the other is wearing a blue pin stripe. When you turn around one is at six o'clock, the other at 3." Clint paid for a beer and then left, keeping an eye on Romanoff.
As soon as she made contact with the silver watch guy, the gold watch man left. Agent Barton went up to the roof and soon saw the man waiting in a dark car. There was no license plate on it. But that didn't worry him. He went down the back stairs into the alley. From his pocket, he pulled out a tracking device. Very carefully agent Barton snuck up on the car from behind and attached the tracker to the underside of the bumper. Then he melted back into the shadows and went up the fire escape. Once back on the roof, he checked to make sure his target hadn't noticed him. Then he went to find Romanoff. She was still talking to the other guy. The guy got a phone call on his cell, then left.
"All I got was that he is here for a boat race. I asked him if it's the one that Long organized for tomorrow at six and he said yes. Shortly after that he left," Natasha reported.
"I put a tracker on their car. Shall we go see where they are going?" Clint asked.
"Quick kiss me, your blond is coming."
He did as she said, kissing Natasha with passion. Then Clint nuzzled her neck, "did it work, is she gone?"
"Yes. You should've seen how disappointed she was. Poor girl, you heartbreaker." Natasha teased him, but her lips still felt his kiss. She almost wished that the girl hadn't given up so easily, just so that Barton would kiss her again.
He ignored her teasing and took her hand, weaving in and out of people to the door. Then they went back to their car. Inside was the gps tracker and a headset to report back to the airship. Agent Hill responded and said they would track the car, but that agent Barton and agent Romanoff, should not follow it. Agent Hill told them to go pack their gear and take it to the boat. Then they were told to go back to their hotel and get rest, as the pair of them would be racing tomorrow.
They did as they were instructed. After changing into their agent uniform, they packed everything, except stuff that would fit in a backpack. They drove down to the dock and put their stuff on the boat, below in the hull cabin. Once locked up, they returned to the hotel. Both changed into shorts and t-shirts, but just sat out on the balcony. Neither said anything, but it was relaxed and comfortable silence. The city noises were everywhere.
"My ears are still ringing from that club. Sometimes I really hate the city," Natasha mused.
"I know what you mean. So are you ready for the next stage of this adventure?" Clint asked.
She shrugged, "sure. I've had enough of this city. I need some action."
"I think we'll get lucky tomorrow and find that boat from Thailand."
The agents discussed the operation a little longer and then both turned in. He listened to her breathing and noticed that she had a nightmare, as she was fighting her blanket. But he didn't wake her. Barton wanted to see if the dream broke or if she woke herself up.
When she moaned in her sleep Clint spoke to her."Natasha you're safe, I'm here."
"Hawkeye..." she mumbled.
"Yes I've got your back, relax."
Romanoff rolled over, still asleep. He watched her and saw that she no longer struggled with the blankets. He smiled and then after ten minutes of listening to her even breathing, he too finally fell asleep.