Don't own Marvel. Don't own the characters. Sorry if there are several of this type of story written already. I've had this on my phone for months and I just joined this community so I thought I'd share.

We are partners. We are friends. And we are something else that can't be explained with words. On a mission I can count one her to get the job done and have my back at the same time. I will always have hers. When I first brought her in no one would work with her so I became her partner. I broke down the walls around her heart and a friendship emerged that was stronger than the hardest metal. A friendship that ran deeper than anything.

There are a thousand unspoken rules ranging from the classic, never leave your partner behind to, always prank Agent Hill, to the unspoken law that if one falls the other will continue on only long enough to wreck their revenge. She made me swear to end her life if Red Room ever got ahold of her. And now as I stare at the phone I wish I had refused.

We are partners but Fury sometimes sends us on solo missions. That was why I had not been with her when IT had happened.

Coulson was ordering me to Russia to help with The Black Widow. Red Room had captured her a week before. SHIELD had traced her to a faculty in the middle of no where. After they had secured it they found her in a room standing in the shadows. They had tried to speak to her but she had ignored them. When they tried to bring her with them by force she had leveled six agents in less than a minute. Coulson was calling me in as a last resort before giving the kill order.

Before I had finished the first sentence in his message, I was on the tarmac and leaping into a waiting jet. A half hour later I was landing. I brush away the rookie that tries to escort me to her. I knew where she was. I can feel her presence.

I open the door at 16:22 and take in the awful sight, agents down, blood pooling around them. But worst of all is Natasha, a knife at Coulson's throat. "Tasha!" I shout.

She whirls on me instantly forgetting her prostrate prey as she disappears into the shadows. I drop my weapons with a clatter. And call in the faultless Russian she has taught me, "Сразись со мной." There is silence. "трус!" I taunt.

I feel her behind me and wheel to meet her. Her full fury is against me as I block blow after blow. Anger suddenly erupts in me, how dare they take her from me, how dare they make me keep my promise. I throw her against a wall and pin her there. "мой," I gasp. "ты мой. Вернись."

I release her. And she tackles me, I roll on the cement, fighting for control of the knife that has reappeared in her hand. Without thinking I trap her in a lock she taught me for such a situation. I hold her wide and and uneasy eyes with mine. "Mine, never theirs, Tasha. Don't make me." Tears stream from my eyes. "пожалуйста."

Slowly I release her, raising my hands over my head. Surprise flashes in her eyes and she looks around at the men with guns trained on her.

I feel the knife pressed against my throat. I trust her completely and I let my walls down, my barriers crumble. There is no other I would rather take my life. "I'm sorry Natasha. I can't do it. Can't keep my promise, I can't kill you." A sob racks my chest, "Делай это Таша, как хочешь. Я не буду просить, чтобы это было быстро."

I close my eyes as tears slide down my cheeks. The last gesture of trust. I have surrendered, submitted to her. I lie there hoping Coulson will have the good sense to let her do it and let her leave afterwards. Then she freezes and the pressure on my neck disappears. I hear the clatter of metal on cement. A strangled sob bursts from her throat and she falls forward, or would have if I had not sat up and caught her.

And so we sit there sobbing till we can weep no more. Phil has the good sense to leave us alone. Her whispers are rough and raw as she says my name over and over again.

Several hours later we are sitting on a bench in the training room back in the US, "Why did you let me? Why didn't you try to stop me? I would have killed you Clint." She asks.

"I couldn't do it Tasha, couldn't keep that promise. I can't kill you. Not even if my life depended on it. You're the only reason I'm still alive."

"My ledger is red, dripping blood. I can live with it, but l don't want to live if you are on that list Clint."

"I have a ledger too Nat, and I... I can't put you on it. If you go, I'll carry on only till I have avenged you. No longer." She is silent. "And I can't really revenge you if I killed you, can I ?" I add as an afterthought to bring some humor back into the conversation.

She leans forward and kisses me. I wrap my arms around her.

"Well Fury won't be happy. Romantic relationships between partners are forbidden." Phil Coulson states sarcastically.

I try to jump up but Nat pulls me back down, "Only if you tell him. Besides, by," She looks at her watch. (It reads 22:21) "22:37 he won't be able to do a thing about it."

I look at her, "Why won't he?"

"Because we're getting married at 22:36. And you, Phil, are our witness."

I just shrug. I've given up trying to figure out how she knows Fury won't catch us at things. And right now I am still confused as to how we got engaged.

Phil just grins, "I wonder how long it'll take Fury to figure it out?"

The answer to that 11 minutes and 32 seconds. He was to late; we were gone and the paperwork was legal. I guess he could probably have done something to change that. But he didn't.

He probably knew he'd die for it.

Russian translations. I apologize if they are incorrect.

Сразись со мной - fight me

трус - coward

мой - mine

ты мой. Вернись. - you are mine. Come back.

пожалуйста - please

Делай это Таша, как хочешь. Я не буду просить, чтобы это было быстро - Do it Tasha, however you want. I won't ask for it to be quick