Abboz

Post Scream (2022) “Gale…?” Blinded by the bright lighting, Dewey instinctively squinted to try and force her into focus. “Got… too?” “No.” She stroked the sides of his face, her grin as big as she could get it. “You made it.” “Dying. I…” He looked so damn miserable that it tore at her heart and made her furrow her brow to match. “You’re not dying. Turns out you’re the one with more lives than a cat.” “Wha…? How?” “A miracle.” “Gale believes… miracle?” Her whole face wrinkled up as she smiled. “Fine, because you’re tough and a survivor, and brave enough to fight. And had a team of very good surgeons.” “S’bad right?” “You might need more surgery, and it’s definitely not going to be a quick recovery. But it could be a lot worse and I’m just glad you got one at all. I thought you were dead.” Her voice cracked. “I saw you, the bag, they stopped me, they said… I’d lost you.” “Protection.” “What? No, we got them, they’re dead, both of them. The police are still outside

“Merry Christmas, handsome. Bit late I know.” Clint stopped still in the hallway, his jaw gaping open as he stared at Natasha. “Clint?” she signed. “You okay?” She knew sign language? Of course she did. The Black Widow had probably known ASL long before he’d needed it, maybe before they’d even met. “Hearing aids playing up again?” An image flashed into his mind, sun streaming through the window, the pair of them before a screen, her agile hands signing his handle. “Tasha… I missed you.” “I missed you t—" “I hear you. Let me hear your voice.” Confusion crossing her features, she slowly walked closer. “It’s only been a few days… what’s going on?” Still frozen in place, his brow tensed and then lifted again as he repeatedly shifted his gaze over her form and the air surrounding her. So she wrapped her arms around his neck to focus him. “Hey…” Giving him a breath to get there himself, she slid her left hand forward to his jaw to help him. Then with a smile, she leant in to press

As Nat guided her partner through the motel room door, his arm just as tight around her waist, she could hardly believe that barely an hour ago they had been on a whole other planet. Their friends seemed to have thought of everything in their plan to rescue her, equipped with the key to a place for him, or she supposed they’d hoped them, to stay the night. A few taps of an app on Steve’s phone had covered dinner before their departure, leaving her with just one concern, and it felt good to only have Clint to worry about; even better to be there with him to do so. In the holdall she’d taken off him, she found very little, a few crumpled clothes for her and those he’d discarded earlier when donning his suit. A testament to the urgency he’d left the homestead with, she pressed a kiss against his lips, smiling at the shaky whisper of her name that followed, and rewarding him with another soft peck. “Here.” Grabbing his top from the bag, she pushed it into his chest. “Put this on. You’ll

The glow of Tokyo’s neon lights highlighted every tense feature on Clint’s face as he slowly shook his head against his wife’s unwarranted guilt. “Tash.” She stepped closer, angling her gaze up at him. “You know why I’m here… but why are you? What happened to not going alone? We said two days; that was the plan. Then Rhodey tells me a whole cell of the Mexican cartel has been taken out, no chance to fight back, your MO. Wrong area. Wrong cell…” “It couldn’t wait two days. It wasn’t just me there. We weren’t the only ones that knew the cartel were planning something big.” “The Yakuza.” He nodded. “The asset they were hiding, it was an 0-8-4 that they were starting to make enhanced weapons out of. I heard chatter that they were moving again, and then more from an impending attack. I tried to get to it first. I couldn’t get there quick enough; while I was fighting, the Yakuza took it. Even worse hands for it to be in.” “That’s when you should have called me. You know I’d have come

“Hey, Clint?” Closing the door to their quarters behind her, Nat paused for an answer before finishing her question. None came. She checked the kitchen in case he had headphones on, the bedroom in case he was sleeping. He wasn’t there. “Not today. Please.” She couldn’t pinpoint any one cause of her stress, just everything piling on top of her becoming too much. All she wanted was some food, a little intimacy, a lot of sleep, but the most important part of her remedy was missing. It was possible that he had just been held up or more likely he’d stopped to do some extra work and lost track of time. Worth checking before assuming the worst at least, and either way their planning room would hold the answers she needed. Turning back, she made her way down there, using her touch to unlock the workshop only she and him had access to. She paused before crossing the threshold. There on the wall at the back, the empty mannequin next to her gold trimmed suit said it all. Her first instinct

I’ll be back in a couple of days. Don’t worry. Forever yours, Clint x The sight of the note on the coffee table had been unnerving enough, the message combined with his closing endearment had only solidified the pit of dread in Natasha’s stomach. A split-second decision had had her grabbing her gear and running for the aircraft hangar. Several hours had passed since then, and sat at the helm of one of their planes, she was rereading his words for the umpteenth time, despite already having them running in a loop around her head. It wasn’t helping anything, and she knew it, so she forced herself to tuck the note away and focus on the actual task at hand. Checking the map on her phone confirmed she was still heading in the right direction, south, and gaining on him. Good. That gave her time to change into her suit, get her gadgets ready. Venezuela was long gone now, but already much further into Brazil, Clint’s marker was slowing as he approached his destination. At nearly three

Stunned by her sudden absence, Clint turned away from the tree where Lila should have been. Surely she had just snuck behind his back to get to her family. Only they were gone too. He called out to them, frantically twisting round as he heard a worried voice. “Clint?” He reached out to her, and just as his fingertips touched her cheek, Natasha’s face crumbled before his eyes. And then he started awake. His arm stretched out across the motel bed, he looked at the empty space beside him and balled his fist up in the sheets. He got the message; if he wasn’t with her, he might as well have lost her that day too. “What am I doing here?” “What are you doing here?” “Nat?” Pushing himself up, he looked over his shoulder, and there she was, perched on the very corner of the bed, setting her left shoe down beside its pair. Smiling at the awestruck look on his face, she held his gaze in hers as she walked to his side and slipped under the covers. “I thought we were gonna take them down

“Come on, come on, come on,” Natasha repeated, whispering to no one in particular as she pressed her mobile harder against her ear. The network was busy with everyone else doing the exact same thing she was, she couldn’t get it to connect, hours of trying to get through and only once had the phone at the other end rung. Only it had rung, and rung, and rung, until finally it had rung out, going to voicemail. Her message only told him to let her know he was okay, and she’d ended it, tearing up as she put the phone down beside her. Steve had simply pushed it back into her hand and told her to keep trying. She was still doing just that as they prepared to land back at the Avengers HQ, but when once again it proved unsuccessful, she accepted that her phone was not going to get her answers. “This is taking too long, as soon as everyone’s off, I am taking this thing to go look for him.” “Nat, I can’t let you—” “I need to know. Now.” “Can’t let you do that alone. I’m coming with you. But