#heartofthestorm

[alustriel-the-star]

Happy Chinese Lunar Festival by phoebecn

[storytellerauthor]

Finished #ragingsea last night and now I'm onto the last of the trilogy! :b #bookish #booklove #readerlife #heartofthestorm

[movies2music83]

#WCW #CiciHedgpeth #StuckInTheSuburbs #HeartOfTheStorm #WomanCrushWednesday

[adorationamy]

Respite

So, here is my second gap-filler for “Heart of the Storm” by thegraytigress. This one picks up right where chapter 10 of “Cloud Cover” left off. Like the last one I wrote, this was not an easy task. I will say that it was an enjoyable experience. I’m not sure if I have anymore coming. It all depends on how the rest of “Heart of the Storm” plays out. 

—

Tony was already in the pilot’s seat by the time Sam walked onto the quinjet. Natasha had somewhat fallen asleep, but she quickly awakened the second he set her down in a chair. Sam sat next to her. Their shoulders just touched. He was trying to offer whatever comfort he could give her.

Once the quinjet was in the air and Natasha was somewhat calmed down, she got up and walked over to where Tony had laid Steve. Despite the conditions, Steve was actually comfortable. Maria was patching up his shoulder as best she could until they got back to Avengers’ Tower, which unfortunately wasn’t for another 12 hours.

“You should rest,’ Maria said as Natasha sat down by Steve.

“I’m fine.”

Maria didn’t say anything. She knew well enough not to force Natasha to do anything. As quickly and accurately as possible, she finished up Steve’s shoulder and went to front of the jet to where she would serve as copilot. Meanwhile, Natasha closed both of her hands around one of Steve’s and rested her head on his chest. His breathing was still slow, but his heart rate was beginning to return to normal. Within seconds, she was once again falling asleep, listening to the sounds of Steve’s heartbeat and the whispers of Tony and Maria.

 —

Twelve long hours later, the quinjet landed on the landing pad. It was late in the evening. The sun had already set and the city lights were just starting to come on.

Natasha accompanied the gurney that carried Steve inside the tower and down to the infirmary. Bruce was waiting for both of them. She was extremely exhausted from the long flight, but the only thing that mattered to her was Steve.

Bruce went immediately to work the second the gurney was where he needed it to be. After putting on a pair of latex gloves, he removed the bandage from Steve’s shoulder. It was still bleeding, but not like earlier. He then got a bottle of peroxide and some gauze pads. Natasha covered her nose as he pressed the wet pad to Steve’s shoulder. The smell wasn’t exactly pleasant.

Once the wound was clean and stitched, he placed a new bandage on top of it, placed his arm in a sling, and moved him to a recovery bed located in a different corner of the room.

“Is he going to be OK?” Natasha asked.

“He’s going to be dizzy and nauseous when he wakes up, but he’ll be alright,” he answered.

“His shoulder?”

“It just needs to heal. The sling is so that he won’t move his arm too much and rip out the stitches I put in.”

Natasha nodded as Bruce put on a second pair of gloves.

“What are you doing?”

“I want to take a look at you. Make sure you’re OK,” he answered.

Natasha slowly raised her eyebrows at him. The images of Lukin’s men touching her back in Russia were beginning to flood her head. She didn’t want another exam. What she really wanted was to be by Steve. No, she wanted to be by Clint.

“Where’s Clint?” she asked.

“He’s in a different room.”

“I want to see him.”

“Natasha, please let me look at you first. I want to make sure you’re OK,” Bruce pleaded. Reluctantly, Natasha agreed, even though she didn’t want to. Despite the fear that was building up inside of her, she made her way over to the examination table where Bruce quickly looked her over for injuries. Aside from a few bumps and bruises, she was OK.

“When did you find out you were pregnant?” Bruce asked. Natasha flinched on the table. She really didn’t want to talk about this.

“Bruce, please…”

“Natasha, I know you’ve been through a lot these past few months, but you need to get checked out. You need to receive care for this pregnancy.”

“Please, not tonight. I don’t want to do this. I want to see Clint,” Natasha pleaded with him as a tiny shudder started to wrack her frame.

“Natasha, please, just let me take a look at you. You need to have bloodwork done.”

Natasha flinched even harder at what Bruce had just said. She didn’t want anyone to touch her.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Bruce soothed as he gently clasped her shoulder. Natasha moved away from his touch and slid off the bed. Despite her mind telling her to lay down and sleep, she made her way to where Clint was.

She nearly stopped dead in her tracks when she made it to the room. Clint was laying lifelessly on a bed similar to the one Steve was placed on. He looked dead, but she knew he wasn’t. Besides a hear monitor beeping steadily compared to her own, Clint was attached was an IV and a blood pressure monitor. 

She sat down in the chair beside the bed and closed her hands around one of his. It was cold to the touch.

“I’m so sorry,’ she sobbed as she laid her head on his chest. “I’m so sorry.”

She continued to sit there for the next hour or so. Before she knew it, Maria was gently helping her out of the chair and leading her to a place where she could lay down. She could hardly keep her eyes open as she felt her head hit a pillow. Within seconds, she was asleep.

Her sleep didn’t last too long though. Images of Omega Red attacking Clint, followed by images of Lukin and his men touching her and treating her like some animal on a leash. She started to shiver and twitch as her mind drifted to images of Omega Red attacking her and Steve not once, but twice.

“No, please no! Let him go!” she screamed. The nightmare continued on. Omega Red was wrapping his tentacles around her, pulling her away from Steve. “Let me go! Steve!” she shouted. Omega Red didn’t let go. He kept dragging her away to where Lukin was waiting for her, waiting to take her to his facility. She reached out her hand, desperate to grab something to stop herself, but there was nothing, just shadows. The next thing she knew, another set of arms was holding her, and they weren’t Steve’s arms.

“Welcome back, Black Widow,” Lukin spoke as he led her to his waiting truck. Omega Red followed behind, but not before knocking Steve out cold.

Natasha came awake with a gasp and sat straight up in bed. Her breathing was rapid and uneven and she was drenched in sweat. Her eyes were frantically searching the room for Steve and/or Clint to come in and comfort her. However they weren’t coming. Steve was still unconscious and Clint was half dead.

The door slowly opened, causing Natasha to shudder. Someone was coming in. “No,” she thought herself. Sam walked in the room and sat down on the bed. Just like he did, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, comforting her.

“You OK?” he asked. Natasha shook her head against his chest. She was shaken. Sam tightened his grip on her and held her close. He was somewhat unsure about how to help her. The only reason he was in her room in the first place was because he heard her scream.

The two of them sat there in silence as Natasha’s breathing came back to normal.

“Try and sleep if you can. It’s still early in the morning,” he soothed.

“Thank you,” she whispered. Sam squeezed her shoulder one last time before leaving the room. Meanwhile, Natasha laid back down and did her best to sleep.

 —

Four hours later, Natasha awoke again. The rest of the night was relatively peaceful. No nightmares. The only movement she made was to roll over onto her opposite side to try and relive the cramps she was starting to have. As the sun was beginning to shine into her window, making her hair shine in the night, Natasha slowly got out of bed and walked toward the bathroom to clean herself up.

After finding nothing to eat that was close by, she made her way back to medical to check on Steve and to be near Clint.

Steve still wasn’t awake, but Sam was with him. When he saw Natasha, a look of concern appeared on his face. She looked like she didn’t get much sleep after her nightmare. She actually did get sleep, she was just tired from everything that had happened in the past few days Even when she was hiding out in mansion, she didn’t get much sleep, for she was repeated woken up by nightmares of Clint being attacked by Omega Red or something happening to Steve while he was in Europe. It would be awhile before she would be completely rested up.

She eventually made her way to Clint’s room where she found both Sharon Carter and Bruce examining Clint and discussing medical information. They quieted down the second they noticed Natasha in the doorway.

“How is he?” she asked.

“Still no signs of improvement.” Sharon responded as Natasha came closer and sat down in the chair.

“And how are you this morning?” Bruce asked her.

“Fine.”

“Natasha, I’m sorry if I made you uneasy last night. Pregnancies aren’t my area of expertise, but please be assured I won’t hurt you.”

“I told you last night I don’t want you to look at me.” Natasha responded coldly.

“Natasha…” he began.

“No, Bruce. I don’t want to.”

Bruce decided not to say anything more. Instead, he just resumed his work while Natasha sat at Clint’s side. Tears were already starting to from in her eyes.

Sam walked in the room to check on both her and Clint. He also brought her a bottle of water and a cheap breakfast sandwich. Oh well, it was something to satisfy her hunger.

“Is he awake yet?” she asked as she took a bite.

“Not yet.” Sam responded. Natasha took a sip of water as a tear made its way down her cheek.

“This all my fault. I should’ve just told Clint right away I should’ve called Steve the second I knew. Maybe none of this would’ve happened!’

“But what about you? You could’ve been taken.”

Natasha flinched at that. Sam was right. If Clint didn’t follow her, Dr. Fine would’ve have taken her away from them and she would’ve never seen them again. Setting the sandwich down on the bedside table, she stood up and went to Sam and wrapped her arms around him. Sam was somewhat surprised, but he quickly wrapped his own around her small body.

“They’ll be OK. I know they will,” he soothed.

“Promise me you’ll bring Steve here when he wakes up. Promise me you’ll bring him.” Natasha cried

“I will. I’ll made sure he’s able to walk over here first. Don’t want him to collapse in the hallway.”

Natasha gave a small smile and nodded thanks as she left his arms. Sam then left the room to leave her some privacy with Clint.

[adorationamy]

Lunch

OK, so this is probably not my best work, but this is the first of two gap-fillers for “Heart of the Storm” by thegraytigress. This takes place 2 days after Clint sees Natasha since she came back from her mission with the Cap and before she tells Steve that he’s her new partner. ( Heat Wave chapter 10). Anyway, here we go. Please don’t laugh at me. This was not an easy task, and I still have one more to do next week. 

—

The fact that her partner was lost and defeated made her feel lost and defeated. He was lost and defeated because the World Security Council had benched him until he learned the results of his psych eval. She was lost and defeated because she was forced to work with a new partner. She had to work with Captain America, and apparently, word got around that Fury had paired her with him.

The mission was a success, well despite being blown out of the sky, stranded on a deserted island, taken captive, and then her being thrown out of an airplane. Bottom line, both were still alive and the 084 was out of SHIELD’s hands. She knew what Steve had done with it, and she was fine with it. She too agreed that no one should be able to use it.

The sound of her phone vibrating against the desk made her jump in her chair. She was deep in thought, working on one of the numerous field reports from this last mission. It was a text from Clint saying to meet him in the gym.

Sending a reply that she would be there, she saved her work, closed her laptop and headed to the elevator.

“Training room.” she said.

“Training room, confirmed.”

Along the way, she processed what was going on. Clint had won an office bet that Captain America would not survive a mission with the infamous Black Widow. Well, he did and he had won enough money to buy her lunch. He told her later that day that the dollar value that he won was over $100.

Technically, they were supposed to have whatever they were having like yesterday, but he the second he sent the text to have him meet her, the Council requested his services, thus having him to cancel his plans. 

When the elevator eventually reached the training room. She slowly stepped out, being alert for wherever Clint was hiding. For all she knew, he could be in one of the vents, waiting to drop down on top of her and tackle her to the ground.

The training room was empty, however the lights were on. She couldn’t feel a change of pressure in the air, so that meant he was not in the vents.

“Where the heck are you, Barton?” she asked to herself.

Regardless of where he was, he was coming. She never received another text on her phone, so that meant that he didn’t get detoured.

For the next 10 minutes she waited, pacing back and forth in front of the wall, still on alert in case he snuck up on her. Her thigh was getting better, so she was ready for whatever was going to happen. She knew that he wanted to challenge her in the ring whenever she was strong enough to do it. Was he backing down now? No, Clint Barton would NEVER back down from a fight, especially one with his partner. So, where was he?

—

Ten minutes eventually became thirty minutes and then forty-five minutes. Now Natasha was getting impatient. Waiting was not on her list of favorites, especially when it came to waiting for her partner. She tried texting him, but he didn’t respond. When she tried calling, she only got his voicemail.

“You’ll pay for this, Barton.” she said to herself as she began to leave the training room.

She was almost out the door when she got a brilliant idea. She would hide in the vents and drop down on him when he entered the training room. They would then challenge each other for as long as both of them a still had any energy. After that, and if both of them were still in one piece, they would go for lunch.

Still on alert, she pushed herself up into the vents and crawled to where she could see the floor of the training room.

“Now he’s gonna get it.” she said to herself as she did her best to get comfortable.

Once again, Natasha found herself waiting. She left her phone down below so she couldn’t see if he had texted her back. She was starting to feel like he had once again stood her up.

Then it happened. A hand grabbed her ankle. She couldn’t help the cry that escaped her lips as the grip grew tighter and tighter. The mystery hand then began to drag her back, like they were taking her captive. She tried to break free, but it was no use. Whoever was dragging her through the vents had a plan up their sleeve.

“Going somewhere, little spider?” the voice asked. She finally managed to pull herself from the person’s grip. Despite the lack of light, she was still able to make out who had grabbed her.

“Clint, you idiot!” She shouted at him as she raised her hand to punch him.

Her hand never made contact with his face. He quickly grabbed her wrist and pinned it to the floor.

“What’s wrong, Nat? Little stuck there?” he asked teasingly.

“Let go of me.” she pleaded.

“Yeah, that’s not happening.” he responded.

“Clint!” she exclaimed glaring at him. Clint eventually released his grip on her wrist.

“I think we better get out of here before we break something up here.” he suggested. Natasha nodded and the two of them crawled back toward the entrance where she had originally entered.

 —

The second both of them reached the ground, they immediately engaged. For the next five minutes or so, the two assassins blocked each other’s punches, ducked from each other’s kicks, and pushed each other down. There were a few times that Natasha shrieked, and that was because Clint had pulled her hair.

As a payback for scaring her half to death in the vents and for making her wait for almost an hour, Natasha got clever and flipped her partner over her shoulder, causing him to land hard on his back.

For the next few minutes, Clint lay on the ground unmoving. He was still.

“Clint!” Natasha exclaimed as she knelt down beside him and began shaking him awake. Clint immediately opened his eyes and smiled.

“Gotcha!” he said teasingly. That earned him a good punch to the shoulder.

“You’re mean.” she whined.

“It’s what I do best, now are you gonna help me up or not?”

Natasha stood up to take his hand, but instead, Clint pulled her back down and she landed on top of him. He then rolled to his left, thus pinning his partner to the ground.

“Little stuck there, Nat?” he asked teasingly. Natasha shoved Clint’s hands off her and stood up to leave the room.

“What about lunch!” he called after her.

“Another time, Barton!” she responded not even turning around.

Clint was hurt. She was probably still mad that he made her wait. With his head down, he sulked out of the training room and headed back to his room.

 —

A half hour later, there was a knock at his door. He sighed as he went to open it.

“Still want to get lunch, Barton?” Natasha asked. Clint smiled as he took in her features. She was wearing a black sweater with a red shirt underneath. She also had on black jeans and boots. She looked beautiful.

“I thought you were mad me.” he answered.

“Nah, now come on, let’s put that bet money to good use.” she said smiling.

“Hang on, let me change first. Wait here.” he answered. He then closed the door so he could change out of his workout clothes.

Five minutes later, he came out wearing a black polo and black jeans. His hair even looked neater than earlier.

“Ready, Miss Romanoff?” He asked politely.

“Yes, Mr. Barton.” she responded as he took her hand. Together the two of them left the Triskelion and headed to one of the area restaurants for lunch.

Throughout the meal, they talked about Natasha’s mission with the Cap, what he had been up to while she was gone, and what their future was looking like. For now, he would continue to do small jobs around SHIELD while she would continue to work with the Cap. Both wanted to work with each other, but they knew that wasn’t the case. The Council didn’t seem like they were going to budge anytime soon, and Clint was beginning to accept that.

Natasha wasn’t however. It’s not that she hated working with Captain America, she just wasn’t used to it yet. Clint had been her partner for five years. He knew her from the inside out. He knew how to handle her when she had a nightmare or when was having a flashback. He knew how she fought when she was in the field.

“Nat, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” he reassured her when he thought he saw tears in her eyes.

“It’s just not the same. Rogers is different. He’s new to SHIELD. He’s even new to this century.”

“Hey, you were new once. You didn’t even think you could make it in this organization. Now look at you. You’re training the new guy.” Clint responded as he took her hand that had been resting on the table.

“I wish you were training him with me. You’ve been at SHIELD longer than I have.”

“Maybe one day I could join you guys in the ring. Now that’s a fight I’d like to see. Captain America versus Black Widow.”

“Barton, you and I both know who would win.” Natasha responded smiling. Clint smiled back and pulled something out of his jeans pocket.

“Clint, you know I don’t like presents.” she said.

“I know you don’t, but this is a special present.” he said as he handed her the box.

With gentle hands, Natasha opened the box to reveal a silver plated arrow necklace.

“What’s this?” she asked surprisingly.

“It’s a symbol of our partnership. No matter what the council does to me or what the results of my psych eval are, you are still my partner and you always will be.”

“You’re sweet.” she teased.

“It’s what I do. I’m sweet, and I’m deadly cool.”

“And what am I, a deadly assassin who got saved by an archer?” Natasha asked as she put the necklace on.

“You’re cool too, and a great partner.” Clint answered.

“Thank you.”

 —

The pair eventually returned to the Triskelion over three hours later. Both were worn out and tired from their fight earlier in the day and from walking around town after their meal.

For the next few minutes, the two assassins stood outside Natasha’s room. Neither wanted to leave. It felt like they were leaving each other forever.

“It’ll be OK. I promise. You need to move on. This will be good for you” Clint soothed as he took her into his arms.

“I don’t’ want to move on.”  

“Neither do I, but we have to. This is how it has to be. I’m not the same person anymore.” Clint responded. Natasha looked up at him. A few tears were in her eyes.

“Thank you. For making me the person I am today.” she said.

“You’re welcome.”

Before he stepped away, he gave her a firm kiss on the forehead, giving her the strength that he had given her so many times when she needed it.

Clutching the arrow necklace in her palm, she watched him walk away with his head down. He looked defeated, like that was hardest thing he had ever done in his life.

Once he was out of sight, she went back into her room and closed the door.

Five minutes later, she laid down on her bunk, clutched the arrow necklace in her hand, and cried herself to sleep. Tomorrow she would accompany him to hear the results of his psych eval.  He only brought it up once and he never asked her to come, but she was going to go anyway. He was still her partner, and he would never be replaced.

Never.

[adorationamy]

"A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri feat. Steve Kazee. This applies to both my fanfiction series "Love Through the Pain" and "Heart of the Storm" by thegraytigress.

[adorationamy]

Heart and Love Through the Storm and Pain

My love Just hang on It will all be over soon. I’m right here I’m going to get you through this. I promise you. I’m going to get you through this.

Take my hand It’s going to be OK. I’ve got you You are safe in my arms.

I am the heart in the midst of your storm. You are mine and I am yours.

I love you and I’ll never let you go. I’ve got you. It’s going to be OK. Just let yourself be held by me. I will be with you every step of the way.

I will love you through your pain. You’re world’s not falling apart It’s falling into place.

My love Just stay here with me. I’ll take you far away from every broken place. I will carry you and I will share your tears.

You don’t have to run anymore. Your home is here with me.

[adorationamy]

Storm Front

Is this a heat wave? No. It’s a storm front with endless thunder, lightening crashes, gale force winds, and heavy cloud cover. I’m in the midst of it, lost in the terminal frost of an eternal winter. Where is the heart in the mist of this storm? Why is there no rain? Where is the light at the end of this tunnel? Help! I need help! I need someone to ground me, to take my hand and guide me through this storm. Life has hit me out of nowhere.. I’m barely holding on. I’m tired of fighting. I’m chained by my control. I’m freaked out, insecure, nervous, and erratic. I’m scared, abandoned,, fearful, and empty. Please make it stop! Take me far away now, From this broken place now. Somewhere they can’t hurt me I wanna be moved by mercy I’m on my knees. Answers seem so far away. My world is falling apart. I used to be a future burning bright, Now I’m just another sleepless night. Can this storm just end? I’m drowning in a sea of regret. I need someone to grab me, to pull me out of this never-ending storm. My adrenaline is pumping. I need to run now. I need to escape. Where do I go now? Where do I feel safe? Home. Steve