Romanoff was restless, but no one except agent Barton could tell. He saw what most people didn't, hence his code name Hawkeye. But it was he who could not sleep that night. He hated being cooped up in the airship.
Natasha found him on some upper level, doing what she had planned to do; pace. "Couldn't sleep either?"
Clint nodded. "You have another nightmare?"
"Sort of. Is it really classified as a nightmare, if you're not asleep?" Natasha asked softly.
"No offence, but you look really tired. You got very little sleep when we were out on assignment."
Natasha frowned at him and punched his arm, "gee thanks Barton."
Together they climbed up a couple of levels. One of the levels was still under construction due to the damage caused by the Hulk and Thor's battle. It was an area that agent Romanoff recognized and back came the anxiety. She stopped walking, so agent Barton backtracked to her.
"What's wrong?" Clint asked.
Natasha shook her head, "nothing."
She was lying and he knew it. "Want to do something fun?"
"Like you have to ask."
Clint launched himself off the platform they were standing on and caught one of the cables that ran vertically in front of them. "Are you going to come?"
She backed up, ran and jumped. She caught the cable and swung beside him. "Now what?"
He smirked and waived good-bye, "catch me if you can."
"What are we eleven years old and playing tag?" Natasha called out. Then she went after him.
They swung from one cable to the next, zipped down a level and then used the support beams to swing between platforms. Barton was a natural athlete and his circus years, gave him acrobatic ability. Romanoff was a trained spy and killer, with agility that matched his. She caught him by launching her body at him in mid air, clamping her legs around his waist and holding him in place, as they hung from a cable.
"You win... this time," Clint laughed.
She smiled and let him go. They dropped down and walked back to the sleeping quarters. Their little game, had helped her, but he could tell it had not been enough. The reason she didn't want to sleep, was because if she had a nightmare and lost it, Director Fury had the potential of finding out.
Feeling unsettled Natasha asked in a whisper, "will you stay with me, while I sleep?"
"Want me on the cot or in the chair?" He asked.
"Are you sleeping at all?"
"No, I'll watch over you." Clint answered, knowing she needed rest more than he did.
"Chair then.... thank's Clint." Natasha lay down on the cot, taking deep breaths and clearing her mind.
As she slept, he did pushups and crunches on the floor. Eventually he sat in the chair. She got in a good two hour sleep, before the nightmare came. She talked in her sleep, when she began to beg the attacker to stop, he woke her up.
"Natasha it's a dream," Clint said and shook her gently.
She sat up and grabbed his neck with the intent to choke, until she realized who he was and let go. "Sorry."
He sat down on the bed, shifted the pillow behind his back and leaned against the wall. "Lean back."
Natasha gave him a look, "I... it's okay. I don't need to sleep."
Clint raised his eyebrow at her, not buying it. "You told me you trust me with your life. So come on, lean back. I've got you." He gently pulled her reluctant body backwards, until her head rested on his chest. She was very tense, so he began talking. "Think about sitting on the boat, looking up at the night sky. Picture all those stars and the gentle rocking of the boat." He continued and she closed her eyes.
When her body relaxed against him, he knew that she was finally sleeping again. They'd been partners on a lot of operations together, they had history. But this was the most vulnerable that she had ever been around him. She was opening up to him, a little at a time. Romanoff slept through him shifting his position. When working, she was confident and strong, but at night facing her own memories and mind, that was a different story. In the past he'd witnessed her nightmares, but Romanoff never had talked about it. She would dodge his questions and lie. Or she would use that skill of hers to redirect the conversation to where she wanted it. Some how, fighting Loki, had changed something and he liked that change. Romanoff slept for four hours straight and then woke up.
Natasha sat up and looked at Barton. "You didn't sleep at all?"
"I can sleep when I'm dead or during a debriefing," Clint joked. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure I'll be doing nothing today and can catch a little shut eye later."
"Thanks."
He nodded and then left her sleeping quarters. Barton went to the observation deck and checked with agent Hill if he'd be needed. She advised that nothing was scheduled. He told her he would be in his room sleeping, if they required him. Barton stopped for something to eat from the mess-deck, then went to his room. As soon as his head hit his pillow he was asleep. That was a skill he had picked up long ago; being able to instantly sleep. When Barton slept, even if it was a short time, he would wake alert. Another skill he'd developed early in life, was being able to feel friend or foe near him, even when asleep. That had saved his life many times.
Romanoff walked by Barton's room three hours later and peaked in the window. She saw him asleep on his side. "I'm so glad you don't snore," she whispered almost to herself. When they had to sleep near each other when on a mission, he always slept quietly. Rarely had she been woken by him moving in his sleep. Romanoff was the one who tossed and turned. What would she do, if some other agent was assigned to her, while she was going through this mental upheaval? She shook her head, hoping that she wouldn't have to find out.
"Agent Romanoff report to the observation deck," the overhead speaker suddenly requested.
Natasha made her way there and said, "agent Romanoff reporting sir."
Nick Fury turned around. "That island you and agent Barton found, was just where the human testing is done. We need you two to go back and backtrack the serum to it's point of origin. The scientist was not on that island."
"Yes sir. Are we taking a jet back to Puerto Princessa and then picking up the go-fast boat?"
"Hawkeye will fly the jet in. There's a landing strip on one of the less popular Spratly Islands. There the other agent will exchange the boat for the jet. You leave at 0900. Everything you need will be on the boat." Fury advised her.
"Yes sir. I'll inform agent Barton." Natasha left, breathing a sigh of relief. No one new had been assigned to her and she was not on her own operation either. For those two reasons she was glad. Since they weren't leaving until later in the day, she let Barton sleep. When he'd had a full eight hours, she'd wake him.
Romanoff went to wake up Barton. When she came into his room, she heard the shower running. Natasha knocked on the door. "We're back on assignment."
"I'll be out in a minute," Clint said from within. He came out with the towel around his waist. "So what op are we doing?"
"Still tracking that Doctor's serum. The island in the South China Sea only was the human testing facility. Director Fury wants us still to find the scientist and the originating location of the serum. We take a jet to Spratly Island landing strip and then the go-fast boat from there and onward. We leave at 0900."
"Ok, I'll meet you on the flight deck," Clint said. He noticed her eyes lingered on his body. "What?"
"Nothing.... are those bruises from that martial arts class?" She asked pointing at the purple mark on his side.
He looked down and twisted his body to see what she was pointing at. Clint shrugged, "don't know. I didn't even notice it."
Natasha rolled her eyes and then left, "see you on deck."
At the door Romanoff could see him inspecting himself for any other bruise marks. Then he went back into the bathroom and closed the door. Like her, he had a high threshold for pain, so she wasn't surprised that he hadn't felt the bruise. Sometimes that was a good thing, but it also could be bad. Once when they were on an operation together Barton had been shot. He didn't feel the pain and hence lost a lot of blood. If Romanoff hadn't been there with him, he would have died. She smiled, thinking back to some of their assignments for S.H.E.I.L.D. One thing for sure, her job was never too boring or dull.
Back at her room she grabbed her pack and headed for the flight deck. When she arrived, Barton was talking to the flight deck crew who were near the jet they'd be taking. She walked up the lift door in the back of the jet and secured her pack. Then agent Romanoff sat down in the co-pilot chair and waited for agent Barton.
"We're all set and ready for take-off," Clint reported as he sat down beside her in the pilot chair. He ran through his pre-flight list and then started the jet engines. With the flight deck crew's assistance, he got set for take off on the runway. Five minutes later they were airborne and flying towards their rendezvous point.