Natasha paused at the door and peered through the observation window at the occupant lying in the bed. Her hand hovered above the door handle; she still had time to make the right decision, to walk away and keep the one person that mattered most safe from the fallout that came from loving her. Bruce's words tumbled through her head and the overwhelming desire to be selfish, to grab a hold and never let go swept over her. So many people had died because of her, could she really let the one she loved back suffer that fate?

She watched Clint through the window for what seemed like forever. There were lines of fatigue on his face that hadn't been there a year ago, a weight on his shoulders that had shifted and changed but never completely lifted. Natasha couldn't help but feel guilty for adding to that burden that he had become so adept at carrying. Seeing him, alone in that hospital room, he looked far too vulnerable for someone that had saved her life countless times. Taking a deep breath she opened the door.

"I thought you would have escaped by now," said Natasha as she leaned up against the door.

Clint shifted his gaze from the world outside the hospital window to his late guest. "Well I figured I could live without the irony of surviving that, only to drop dead from secondary drowning somewhere. Doctors say I should be able to leave sometime tomorrow."

Natasha stepped further into the room and took the chair beside Clint's bed. Her usual confident strides replaced by more hesitant and apologetic steps.

"When I woke up and you weren't here... I figured you left Nat." His words were hesitant, like he dared not hope that she would stay.

"I'm not going to lie, the thought crossed my mind."

"But?" There was the sweet innocence of hope in his voice and the thought of crushing it almost crippled Romanoff.

"Clint you know how I feel and I know how you feel, but it isn't enough; love just isn't enough. I want this, I want to look forward to curling up with you when we're old and grey but if we do this now, it won't last. It going to end bloody and badly and I don't want that for us. However you feel you have to bury it down deep where no one's going to find it or touch it. This will be your motivator to make it back from every situation, every assignment. You're going to survive until we can retire like normal people, agreed?"

They both knew the chances of that scenario coming to fruition, but hope, no matter how miniscule, was still hope. With a reluctant nod he agreed to her terms. He would take her any way he could get her; the alternative was too painful to consider. Barton didn't think he could survive loosing anymore people he cared about. Natasha promptly reached over and slapped Clint upside the head.

"What the hell Natasha?"

"That's for the stupid stunt you pulled back there. If you ever do that again, you won't have to worry about some bad guy taking you out; I'll do it myself," warned the assassin.

"Yes ma'am," replied Clint as his partner stood up and headed towards the door.

"And hurry up and get the hell out of here Barton. Stark's driving me nuts." With that Natasha headed back to Stark Tower.

Clint lay back on his bed. One day, it was a promise that neither one would probably live to see but it was more than he ever dared to have before. Coming from Natasha, it's all he could really ask for.

Epilogue

Tony had always been prone to self-destructive behaviour, but he promised himself this that subtlety ogling Romanoff's ass as she rummaged through the fridge, was more an attempt to offer normality and reassurance, than the quickest route to a painful death. He leaned in the door way waiting for the assassin to poke her head out before making his presence known.

"I won't hesitate to smother you with a watermelon if you don't put your eyes somewhere more appropriate," warned Natasha without pausing in her search.

The billionaire cleared his throat and took a seat at the kitchen table. "So you decided to stay."

Natasha stood up and gave Tony a questioning glance.

"What? The rest of us do talk when you're not in the room and occasionally we talk about this team and the status of its members… mostly my greatness and never ending contributions to our success but sometimes you."

She rolled her eyes and slammed the carton of milk down on top of the fridge door to display the source of her irritation to Stark. He tried not to smile at his handiwork. "Yeah, I was going to start distributing them around town but since your back..." he muttered, waving his hand absently at the milk carton with the mission persons poster attached displaying a clear picture of Natasha.

Natasha tried to ignore the warmth that was spreading through her but a small smile pulled at her lips. This rag-tag group of misfits had done something no one else had managed; they made her feel like part of a family. They'd always put the fun in dysfunctional but she could make that work. She was going to stay for Barton but perhaps the other benefits of this new and weird family were worth sticking around for too.

The end.

Home by Daughtry

Thank-you to everyone who read this story. A super big thanks to those that continuously read my stories and show their support.

Endless thanks and much appreciation to anyone reviewed this story and let me know that people are still reading and enjoying. It means a lot.

Many thanks to movieexpert1978 for all their beta work on this story.

The next story will be An Albatross Around One's Neck in which Steve and Clint have to survive against the elements and each other's insecurities. Followed by Lambs to the Slaughter which is the second part to Albatross and inspired by a prompt from Twisted-67. Steve needs to get away and clear his head. Naturally Tony sees this as a chance for a guy's weekend but when they arrive at the cabin a very large wolf puts a damper on the weekend and could foretell the return of a former enemy.

Then I have and AU story I wanted to try but it will work its way around to fit into this universe; Forlorn Hope. Loki has claimed the Earth but a pesky group of resistance fighters led by would be heroes are a constant thorn in his side. With the age of man coming to a close can the heroes rise up and stop him or will the human race be crushed under Loki's army?