CHAPTER 31

Natasha's POV

It was midnight when they came.

There was no warning, no slip-up, nothing.

They dismantled Jarvis.

They took down Fury's guards.

And they headed towards Clint's room.

The only heads-up we got, was purely by chance.

Stark wasn't asleep, as usual.

And he had gotten a random urge for waffles.

So as he headed towards the kitchen, he heard them, and immediately stopped, running back to his room, before coming to the conclusion that he had to wake us up.

It was Steve who woke me.

If it were anyone else, I would have killed them.

Buts Steve's a good guy, and he'll only wake me up if it's an emergency.

So I was up and out of bed immediately.

We didn't really know what to do then.

I mean, the tower was swarmed with COBRA agents, and there was only three of us, since Stark hadn't his suit, and Clint was the reason for the fighting.

So we started small, cutting off and cornering little groups of the men, before taking them down.

And it worked.

Mostly.

But we got lucky.

Stark had managed to get down to his lab undetected.

And not only was he able to get his suit, but was able to fix and set up Jarivs as well, who then rang Fury and told him we were under attack.

The director was none too happy that we called him at one in the morning, but didn't exactly protest as Stark demanded more backup.

And then, we headed to Clint's room.

It must have been an hour later by the time we managed to get there.

There were two guards at every door, and his room was particularly well-armed.

But we made it.

And once Stark had shot the lock, we stormed in, expecting to find him being attacked or something.

But he wasn't.

He wasn't even there.

Nor were the guards.

Clint's room was empty.

"Guys... His windows open" Steve said suddenly and Stark let his helmet down, "... Well, shit".

"So... What do we do now?" Bruce asked quietly.

"What the fuck did you do to my room?".

We all spun around only to find the man in question staring back at us.

I ran forward, pulling him into a tight hug, "You fucking moron, where were you?".

"Nice to see you too, Tash" He teased, and it was only then I realised he was wearing normal clothes.

Not pyjamas.

Not like the rest of us.

Not like he should have been.

I pulled back and stared at him, "... Why are you fully dressed?".

He smirked, "Well, you know Tash, if you want me naked in bed that badly...".

Stark burst out laughing, while I hit him in the shoulder, "You know that's not what I meant, Clint".

"Well I was hardly gonna go outside half-naked in this weather" He replied, "And despite what you might think, Tash, climbing up the side of a building is remarkably more difficult without shoes".

"So that's why the windows open" Steve muttered, "... But why were you climbing up the tower anyways?".

He shrugged, "I wanted to get to the roof".

"Why not use the door?".

"Cause there were bad guys out there" He shot back, "And I'm in no position to fight right now, am I?".

"Yet you're still healthy enough to start climbing up multi-story buildings" Bruce replied sighing, and Clint winced, "Yea, about that... I kinda ripped the stitches. Again. Sorry".

He stared at him for a minute before sighing once more, "Right. Now, come on, the kitchen. I thing everyone needs some coffee or tea right now".

He nodded, and led the way, calmly stepping over the dead bodies that littered the floor every so often.

Stark ran ahead to catch up with him, "So... You want some scotch?".

Clint grinned, "Hell yea".

Stark smirked, "You seem a lot happier today".

"I am" He confessed, "I'm just glad this is all over".

"Same here, man. I think we all are".

"... At least things can return to normal, to such an extent" Barton said quietly, and Stark nodded, "And you can be an insufferable ass, again".

"Hey" He protested, playfully shoving him, "I'm not the ass. That's you".

"I, my dear ass, am a genius".

"Yea, well, you're the stupidest genius I've ever seen" He muttered, "And I, am NOT, an ass".

"Nah. Course not. Cause you're invincible, ain't you?".

"No Stark, that's Rogers" He replied smirking, "I, on the other hand, am Fearless".

So this is it.

I'm done.

Finally.

After almost 6 months.

I know it's not exactly the best ending, and leaves quite a lot of questions and unanswered answered and stuff, but I hope you'll forgive me.

I apologise for the abruptness of this ending, but I'm currently writing 8 fanfictions, and I have another 9 lined up that I must post, and between school and homework and the fact I'm failing maths, I ain't got much time to write them all.

I know that school and things are just an excuse, but I sincerely hope that you guys will understand and bear with me.

Also, I'm sorry for not updating last week or the week before, but I just ran out of time and had no ideas on how to continue this.

I'll be happy to answer any questions that were left unanswered in this last chapter, and please don't be afraid to yell at me with Caps-lock to express your anger.

I'll understand.

Once more, I apologise for this horribly bad ending, and hope you'll forgive me,

Rachel :)