"Prepare to be boarded," a voice came through the intercoms.

"Copy that," Coulson replied.

There was a loud 'thud' as a plane landed on top of the Bus and only a few minutes after, Clint came running down the stairs. "Where is she?"

"She's just gotten out of surgery. Simmons did the best she could, its up to her to pull through now."

"Phil," Clint pleaded, "tell me where she is."

"She's in one of the pods," Coulson sighed, "but Simmons doesn't want anyone in there with her right now."

Clint shook his head and walked to the pod that Natasha was being held in. He spotted Simmons on one side of the pod, staring at Natasha through the window and monitoring her vitals on a small screen. Clint stood beside her and crossed his arms, staring at his partner. "How is she?"

Simmons didn't look up, she just continued looking forward. "I pulled the bullet out, but it was in deep and she lost a lot of blood."

"Is she going to be okay?"

"Most likely," Simmons answered, "it's just a matter of when she'll wake up. It could be a matter of hours or a matter of days, that part is up to her."

Clint nodded as he took in the information and he sighed. "I should've been there with her. We're a team. I let her down."

Simmons lightly rested a hand on his arm. "I'm sure she knew what she was getting in to when she took this mission. I'm sure she also knew that if you could have been there, you would have."

"Thanks, Simmons. Any chance I can go in there and sit with her?" He turned to look at her, eyes pleading.

Simmons furrowed her eyebrows as she glanced over at Natasha. After a long moment of thought, she finally answered. "I suppose."

"Thank you," Clint said seriously as he stepped away from her and walked towards the door of the pod. He opened it up and he stepped inside, moving to sit in the chair next to Natasha's bed. He reached out and carefully grabbed Natasha's hand, minding the monitors attached to her fingers. He ran his thumb lightly against her knuckles. "Nat, oh gosh, I'm so sorry I wasn't there to keep you safe," he whispered. "I should've been by your side when you were in there." He stayed silent for a minute, just holding her hand and watching the heart monitor by her side. He sighed. "Please wake up. Come on, you're a fighter, I know you can pull through." He paused and closed his eyes. "I need you to pull through. I don't know what I would do without you."

____________________________________

"How is she?" Skye asked as she walked in to the lab where Simmons was working quietly.

"I think she'll be okay, now it's just a matter of when she'll decide to wake up." Simmons stopped what she was doing and looked up at Skye, taking in her appearance. She was pale. "Are you alright?"

Skye gave a small chuckle. "Yeah, I just threw up from the shock of watching one of my friends get shot and maybe not surviving. But other than that, I'm okay."

Simmons nodded. "Well, that's quite a normal response to shock. You should try and get some rest."

Skye nodded. "Yeah, I was just about to go do that. I just wanted to know how she was doing. Wake me up if anything changes?"

"Of course."

___________________________________

Clint felt Natasha's fingers twitch slightly as he held them. He looked up at her face and saw her eyes fluttering ever so slightly. He smiled. "Hey there," he said softly. "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty."

The corner of her mouth inched up slightly and Clint took it as a personal win that he got some response out of her.

"Good to see you still in the land of the living."

"Can't get rid of me that easily," she croaked out in a hoarse voice.

"I don't think anyone can," Clint grinned, lifting her hand to his mouth and planting a quick kiss on it.

She rolled her eyes. "Gosh, you are such a sap."

Clint only smiled.