Disclaimer: Do not own.

Chapter One- Watch Me Fall

"In the morning light let my roots take flight
Watch me fall above like a vicious dove
They don't see me come, who can blame them?
They never seem to catch my eye but I never wondered why"

"Natasha, I need you over here," Clint spoke over the com link.

The redhead yanked her knife from the walker's skull and sprinted down the sidewalk toward her partner. She ducked into the alley, slamming the gate behind her so nothing could follow. Half a dozen monsters were crowding around Clint. Natasha raised her knife again, rushing forward to pick off the ones closest to him. Numerous bodies already littered the ground around them.

"You have to help him," Clint said when all the walkers were dead. He nodded to a man leaning on a fire escape a few floors above them. "Somebody handcuffed him to a roof. He said he cut his own hand off and cauterized it himself, crazy bastard."

Natasha started up the stairs. "Help me get him down." She shouldered most of his weight, maneuvering down with Clint's help.

"We've got to get out of this city," she told him. "It's overrun, there's nothing we can do."

Clint stayed at the bottom of the fire escape. "He can help with that. Before he passed out, he was babbling about a brother. They've got a camp nearby."

"We'll figure it out, let's just get him and go. What are you waiting for?"

"I can't go," Clint said.

"Why?" she snapped. Then she turned to face him, her eyes widening when she spotted the angry red bite marks on his arm. She shook her head, not willing to believe it. "Clint….no."

"Get him out of the city," Clint said. "Get him to his brother if you can."

"I can't leave you, I won't," she said firmly, swallowing the tears that were forming in her eyes.

This couldn't be happening, it just couldn't be. They were the best, the most highly trained assassins in the world. Together they had taken down drug lords, criminal masterminds, entire governments, a fucking demi-god and his alien army for Christ's sake. A rotting corpse could not be the cause of Clint Barton's downfall. And yet, it was.

"Go down the alley and go right. It'll take you to a side road. You can get out of the city that way," Clint told her.

"How do you know?" She sniffed.

He smiled sadly. "Rule number four."

Natasha smiled back, a lone tear rolled down her cheek. Clint wiped it away.

"Come with me," she nearly sobbed.

"I'll never make it. I can already feel the fever setting in." He shook his head. "Nat, this is the end. You can't help me, but you can help him." Clint, with his heart of gold was using his final moments to save her and this stranger. He pulled a small grenade from his pocket.

"You get ten minutes to get as far away as you can," Clint said. "I'll draw them to me and kill as many as I can."

Natasha started to shake her head. Clint roughly grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her to him, kissing her lips briefly. He pulled back and looked into her eyes. His next words would be his last.

"I know you think I'm dumb for always keeping you alive but I do it because I know you better than you know yourself. You're good," Clint said. "You're a better person than you think you are. You were trained for disaster situations, if anyone can make it through this, it's you. I want you to make me a promise."

"Anything," she said immediately.

"Mourn me." At her bewildered expression, he went on. "I know you and I know you stuff your emotions down instead of facing them. That's who you were before me and I don't want you to go back to that. I want you to mourn properly. Cry for me."

Natasha's heart was breaking, but she nodded anyway.

"Now you go," he said. "You get him out of Atlanta and you save as many people as you can." The fence behind them rattled. "Go, Nat. Be safe."

"You know that I will," she promised.

He smiled down at her. "Watch your back. Don't let me die in vain." He paused, then whispered, "I'm sorry." He kissed her again then gently pushed her forward.

She bit the inside of her lip, struggling under the weight of the man. The emotions swirling in her chest threatened to crush her.

The archer walked to the fence and started to scream. He was angry at himself for getting bitten, angry that he never told Natasha how he really felt about her. His heart broke at the thought of what they could have been.

Tears began to stream down his face. He pulled his gun and fired off shots at the gathering walkers at the gate. Bullets hit and missed their targets, shells falling unheard to the ground. Clint's gun clicked, signaling he was out of ammo. He rubbed his face and looked through the fence at the walkers mindlessly gripping the fence, snapping their jaws. The little gate wouldn't hold much longer.

Clint waited another few moments before he smiled sadly at the grenade in his hands. Pushing away his fear, anger and sadness he finally pulled the pin.

Natasha heard him screaming and shooting as she put distance between them. She fought the urge to go back, remembering the promise she made to him. The explosion shook the ground under her feet. She was far enough away that she wasn't in danger but it made her pause. Her chest was cold and she felt as if she couldn't breathe.

Blinking away tears, she readjusted the man's weight and they went on. The man was semi-conscious, making it possible but very hard for her to move under his weight. Natasha became very aware of how vulnerable they were at the moment.

"That way," the man rasped, pointing. Natasha hadn't realized he was that alert. "It's our lucky day," he said when he spotted the big panel van parked under the bridge. Natasha struggled to get him in the cab before hopping in the driver's seat. She almost laughed when she saw they keys in the ignition.

"You're right," she said tonelessly. "It is our lucky day."

"Say, Red, what's your name?" he asked quietly.

"Natasha Romanoff. You?"

"Merle Dixon," he said with a cocky smile before drifting off again.

Natasha eyed the man's hacked off limb and knew he needed help. She drove until they reached a little town, stopping outside a doctor's office. Natasha left Merle sleeping inside the truck and hurried inside.

The lobby was destroyed; chairs overturned, glass, picture frames and paper scattered across the floor. Blood sprayed the walls, pooled in the carpet. Bodies littered the floor and there were no less than a dozen walkers inside the building. Natasha started to pack her bad with medical supplies; gauze, alcohol, antibiotics and pain killers.

Merle was still sleeping when she got back in the truck, however he woke when she started the van. She dropped the bag in his lap and threw it in reverse.

He opened the bag and smiled. "Well ain't you something." Opened the bottle and popped a few pills in his mouth. "Got anything to eat? Drink?"

"No," she said. "But we can check that gas station. We can find a place to stay for tonight and figure out where to go from there."

Merle only grunted in response. He was only thinking about his baby brother. He was too in and out to lead Natasha to the quarry and he would never make it on his own. Merle Dixon never needed anything and he certainly never had to ask a woman for it.

Natasha parked in front and started around to help Merle.

"I don't need your damn help," he snapped at her. She stepped back with an eyebrow raised, but let him climb down himself.

They piled everything useful into the back room, where they decided they would sleep. Natasha waited for Merle to fall asleep before she went out into the front of the store to keep watch. At some point, she fell asleep herself. Jolting awake the next morning when a trash can overturned outside. She drew her gun and went out the back door, aiming at the face of a dark skin woman.

The woman had a long sword in her hands and two walkers chained to her belt. Natasha looked her over. "How did you get that cut?"

"Jumping over a fence," the woman replied flatly. "I'm not bit."

"What with the pets?" Natasha asked, tipping her chin to the walkers.

"They don't attack each other. I can walk through crowds of them unnoticed."

"Your blood attracts them," Natasha said, looking behind the woman to a small group of walkers coming toward them.

"I know. I've been looking for medical supplies, can't find any. You ready to point that thing somewhere else?"

Natasha lowered her gun, pushing the door open. "Come on, leave them out here."

The woman hesitated, then did as Natasha asked. Wrapping the chains around a pole and hurrying inside.

The redhead instructed her to sit on the counter so she could dress the wound. Silently, she complied.

"Thanks," she muttered, sliding down.

Natasha shrugged, packing her things up. Remembering her promise, she turned to the woman. "If you're interested, you can travel with me and my friend. He's dead set on finding his brother, I'm going to help."

"I'd rather go alone," the woman said.

The redhead nodded. "Just a though. You're welcome to tag along if you change your mind. What's your name?"

"Michonne," she said, relaxing a little.

"I'm Natasha."

"I get the feeling you and I are a lot alike. Another lone wolf like me. You've got someone with you though, why?"

"You're right, I do prefer to be alone. But I made a promise to someone," she stopped there.

Michonne just nodded in understanding. The women fell silent, enjoying the camaraderie they seemed to be sharing.

Natasha stood and went into the back room, returning with a bag of supplies. She handed it to Michonne, who looked up in confusion.

"If you won't go with us, I can at least give you something to help," Natasha explained, feeling very out of character.

The other woman nodded. "Thank you."

Natasha returned it. "It's the least I can do."

Michonne picked up the bag. "I'll be going then." She stopped at the door to look at her new companion. "Be safe, friend."

"You, too," Natasha said. Then the woman pushed the door open and walked out the door.

Natasha sat on the floor, listening to the chains rattle as Michonne gathered her walkers and left. She wasn't very good at the whole making friends thing, she thought.

Merle woke up some time later, anxious to get on the road. Natasha didn't tell him about Michonne, there wasn't any reason to and he didn't seem to notice some of the supplies were gone. They ditched the big truck and settled on a quieter, more fuel efficient Nissan. They loaded up and were on the road within an hour.

The rock quarry was empty, dotted with graves and the lingering smell of smoke. Natasha and Merle followed the note to the CDC and found it had been leveled by a massive explosion. Bodies littered the ground and a fire was still burning.

It was recent, very recent, Merle realized. If Daryl had come here and gotten inside, he was dead now. Merle was distraught at the loss of his brother and Natasha understood.

They hit the road, driving aimlessly. Looking for safety anywhere they could find it. Natasha had planned on leaving Merle with his brother and going off on her own. She couldn't just leave him now, knowing Clint wouldn't want her to. So she stayed. She hadn't let herself really think about him. Even though he had told her, made her promise that she would mourn him properly, she hadn't. She'd kept the promise to keep Merle alive, that was easy.

Facing her feelings wasn't.

"What's the matter with you?" Merle called. He was sitting on top of a desk, looking out the window. They were camped out in a church tonight, locked in the small office. She was against the wall, next to the door.

"Just thinking," she answered.

"'Bout Clint?"

Natasha jerked in surprise, her eyes going wide. She had never told Merle his name.

"You say his name sometimes when you sleepin'," Merle explained. "Figure it's bout time for you to talk about him."

"There's nothing to say."

Merle grunted. "Ya know, my daddy used to beat me. Till I got big enough and started fightin' back. He started on Daryl then. He was a little ol' thing, my brother. Firecracker when ya pushed his buttons just right. I got hooked on drugs, fell in with the wrong people, you know that much."

She nodded, remembering the argument they had about him staying sober.

"I tried to protect Daryl, stop daddy from gettin' him. Sometimes I wasn't there, sometimes I got there too late but was too fucked up to do anything but watch.

"His back was all scarred up, tore all to hell from that belt of daddy's. It was my responsibility to protect him, keep him alive. And I failed. During these times…" he trailed off, shaking his head. "One mistake can mean dead. Think its worse to lose the only thing ya got than to die yourself."

"Yeah," Natasha agreed. "It is." She was quiet for a long time. "We were partners for a government agency called SHIELD."

"Never heard of it."

"I know. It's top secret, need to know only. Chances are, if you knew about us, you didn't live long after hearing about us." She shook her head and began to tell him about how Clint found her. "All these years, we took care of each other, fought and killed together. And all it took to end us is a mindless, rotting corpse."

"One mistake," Merle repeated sadly.

"All it takes," she finished, leaning her head back against the wall.

Merle looked out the window. "Ya know, I can't help but think Daryl might be alive. I know what the CDC looked like but maybe they didn't make it there or got detoured. I just don't know for sure, that's the problem."

"Don't worry yourself to death over it," she told him. "If he's out there, he's surviving and you'll find him eventually. The world's getting smaller, there's less and less of us everyday."

Merle didn't answer. After a few moments he went out into the main part of the church to keep watch. Natasha thought about what Merle had said. Clint's face flashed in her mind. Her wall broke down and for the first time in decades, she cried. Her chest ached, heart breaking for all the things she wanted to say to him but never had the nerve to. When Merle came back, she didn't even notice until he was sitting next to her with an arm around her shoulders.

Sophia had waited for Rick to come back, watching the walker stumble after him. Then she tried to go back to the highway, back to her mother. A walker cut her off forcing her into the woods and she ran, clinging to her rag doll. When she looked behind her here were a dozen walkers following her.

She ran harder, tears falling from her eyes.

A/N: So that's a start. This has actually been written for months and I'm just now getting around to posting it. Let me know what you think. Next chapter: We meet someone from the comics. But, who?

~JLL