Hawksong(moon/lady)

Catalina laughed softly, relief in the sound that he wasn’t angry with her for taking advantage of his helpless state. “…does this mean you’re going to start talking like tony, all brainless and stuff?”she muttered raising her head to look down at him as she laid on her side, flushing a little at his words. “I’ll have to leave you helpless more often then.”She muttered leaning down to kiss him, “I love you to.”She said blushing ever so slightly, embarrassed over the confession despite knowing he knew, and that he loved her back. Eyes widening at his words she started to laugh, shaking her head. “Well, I would hope not. That’s…that’s a disturbing thought. Fury near you.”She teased blushing a little because despite his sisterly feelings for Natasha, knowing he’d been close to the other woman still left her feeling jealous and out of sorts sometimes. But she knew better then to tell him that, and it was her own feelings to deal with. “Get some sleep, hawk.”She muttered yawning as she snuggled down into the bed and him, quite willing to forget the world for awhile.

In the morning the woman glared at her workout partner as she tugged on her running shoes, “I’m going to run you into the ground. Then go see frank about some dancing. So then I can beat you, cause dancing might be the only way to beat you. Then have sex. Cause kicking your ass is a turn on.”She mused grouchy from not sleeping well, nightmares torturing her just as much as they tortured clint at times. Teasing him because it was the only way she could relax. Standing she smirked as she straightened her clothes, the black short shorts and restricting sports bra. No matter what she did to her boobs, she was just to big, and he was going to get a show of watching her boobs bounce around since it was warm enough despite the September weather, to go shirtless and in shorts.....and she might be teasing him with the outfit just a bit.
 
he chuckled a little and shook his head. "god no, if i EVER start talking like Tony, you are to shoot me in the head with the most powerful gun you have on hand." he demanded before smirking at her. "and just how do you intend to leave me helpless? i can slip out of any rope you'd care to try to die me up in, and metal shackles are a piece of cake." he pointed out with a grin. "if anything, i'll make you helpless." he teased with a chuckle. "yeah, highly disturbing, Fury near ANYONE is disturbing." he grumbled with a shudder. "you know, in all the years that i've known him, i've never once seen him with a woman... or a man..." he admitted, looking at her. "and i've looked. i think he needs to get laid, maybe then he won't have such a big stick up his ass... who can we pay to have sex with Fury though? he is one creepy dude..."

Clint chuckled a little as he shook his head. "child, i ran for six hours straight last week. what makes you think you can even keep up with me?" he asked with a smug little grin. granted, you might be able to beat me using that fancy little dance number of yours... maybe. in a few years." he mused with a grin as he followed her before he froze, staring at a point over her shoulder and he strode forward, the same look on his face as always when he saw Natasha. he grabbed at empty air, blinked several times and shook his head hard staggering away from the empty air, his eyes wide. "Nat?" he asked, gently touching the empty air, as if caressing a face before he jerked and spun away, fleeing the scene because he KNEW Nat was dead, gone, Loki had killed her, and yet she had been solid, firm. she had laughed at him. he had heard her, felt her, smelled her! he tore into the Tower, grabbed the phone and the 'emergency Jessica number' and told Jessica to get her ass over there NOW! at least he was recognizing that he was going insane this time.
 
"....I'll find a way."she grumbled because she knew it was true.her chances of leaving him helpless were non existant. Wincing at his words she buried her face in his chest shuddering."clint!I don't want to think about it. Stop riht this minute."she demanded shuddering a little at the idea of fury having sex.


"..you just called me a child."she sulked a little before freezing as he looked over her shoulder holding still."hawk?"she said her voice small and frightened not sure what to think with this sudden break before taking off after him again. Slamming into the tower at the same time jessca got there she paced as she waited for them to come out of the room they were in, so very scared for her lover and just how real natasha had seemed to him.having recognized that he was seeing her,ut having no way to quell the absolute fear of what it meant. She couldn't have lived witg losing her teacher the first time they went throufh this,now that she was in love with him, had carved his name into her heart,it was so much worse.
 
he smirked at her. "yes, yes i did. what are you going to do about it?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her. "i think i might have a cute little schoolgirl costume you could wear." he teased. "i AM your teacher after all, maybe you want some better grades hmm?" he teassed, snickering at the look on her face before catching sight of Natasha. Clint stayed with Jessica for almost three hours, honestly freaking out and certain he was going to completely lose his mind this time. of course there was a lot of yelling, Clint not understanding why it was getting so much worse, when he had just gotten BETTER! when he finally came out, he looked haggard and panicked and not at all happy. so he went in search of Ana in hopes for a good cuddle.

what he saw instead was Tony trying to kill the girl. they where both in the boxing ring, dancing around each other and Clint snarled, eyes wide with rage that someone would DARE lay a hand on Ana. the only reason why Tony wasn't facing another hospital trip, was because both Steve and Bruce had caught the man mid leap and where pinning him to the ground until Clint calmed down. at least they knew how to control Clint this time, no one got hurt, not even Clint. "...sorry, i'm alright now." Clint finally muttered, sounding... odd. like he wasn't sure what was real and what was fake anymore. like he was breaking.
 
Clint,for one of the first times ever,had done something amazing.caught both his student and iron man off guard enough with him attacking that theyd managed to bloody each other without meaning to. Tony was sporting a gashed cheek from the brass knuckles cat was wearing and cat was sucking on a split lip where tony had socked her hard enough to actually split her lip. Approaching cautiously, well at least cat did,ony stayed back,catalina folded her lega under her,rouching down next to clint."hawk...I'm sorry...he thought it would help...I was upstairs going insane.."she whispered looking so scared, but not of him. But FOR him. So very afraid.
 
He shook his head. "no, no i'm the one whose sorry. i saw him beating on you and i freaked. Jessica did warn me that i was going to be completely over the top overprotective..." he muttered as Jessica walked in. "while he's still seeing Natasha, his mind is.. fractured, for the best part. right now he's clinging to Cat, she's his base, his Ground, she keeps him as stable as possible and because of that, when he's upset, he doesn't see 'freind and foe' he sees 'cat and Enemy'. with everyone being the enemy." she explained. "his mind is 'tunnel visioned'. for lack of a better word. i would suggest you refrain from beating on Cat." she teased Tony before moving over to her and examining the split lip Tony had given her. "poor thing, Tony is such a brute, isn't he?" Jessica asked, Clint and Bruce both snorting. they knew that Tony was anything but a brute. Tony hated people who hit girls, so Tony was probobly feeling pretty bad about hitting Catalina, accident though it was.
 
Tony smiled a little at clint."I'll have to remember that.one beating without my suit on was enough. I don't want to be in the hospital again"he billionaire said though he was looking more concerned then worried. Catalina looked up at jessica,ilting her head a little, helping clint sit up as she ran her fingers through his hair."does this mean I get to look forward to just you doing my training?"she muttered looking worried about it because while she had mostly shrugged it off, she didn't want to get mistaken for natasha again,and end up hurt because he'd been expecting a natasha response instead of cat. "He is a brute. A terrible one."catalina said wincing a little as she touched her lip,sulking cause she enjoyed her make out time with clint, kinda hard to steal kisses when your lip was busted."I am not. Besides you gave as good as you got. My eyes going to be swollen shut."tony grumbled though he did look sulky at the knowledge the gash was going to swell, he was also glad she'd defended herself, he never wanted to worry about a woman he cared for being helpless. While he was protective of all his friends, it was even worse when the friend was female. So yea,he was feeling pretty shitty for being the one who'd hurt cat.
 
Clint winced a little and offered Tony a sheepish smile. "sorry..." he muttered, rubbing the back of his head as Cat helped him to sit up now that Bruce and Steve weren't pinning him down anymore. "i guess so. Frank should still be able to help you out too, i never see him working with you." he pointed out before examining her lip and giving it a tiny kiss. "to make it feel better." he teased with a smile. "i saw that on a movie. does it work?" he asked with a smile before he examined Tony, a smirk on his lips. "just tell people you got into another fight to save the world. it's not like they'll think your lying." he teased with a chuckle before turning his attention to Cat. "at least he's stopped flirting with us. that was just creepy." he complained, shaking his head. "come on. Jessica's got me a new medicine to try, since therapy doesn't really seam to be helping. she thinks it might actually be a neurological problem, so i get a fancy new pill and a cat scan... i don't know what a Cat scan is but i don't want to go to the drug store or the doctors alone."
 
Catalina smiled a little,incing slightly as his lips brushed hers."its better."she said looking amused resting her forehead againdt his,relaxing slowly. Reassuring them both that he was fine. Tony grinned slightly."true. Though considering my last fight,they might think I got in a fiht over a girl." "...is it really surprising they would?" "Not really."tony shrugged before pouting."it wasn't creepy." "Yes it was."cat said rolling her eyes a little looking amused before nodding as she got up."lets go then."she said looking nervous about what could be causing his deillusions because in her experience nothing that could call mental issues was good. "...its a cat scan.just make cat give you a physical."tony teased as the two headed for the door ignoring cat as she flipped him off trying to not make the two go down to the lab. He'd let jessica run thr tests wherever she wanted to...then if the results weren't good enough, he'd use his own equipment to mame sure neither suffered anymore. Neither assassin deserved it

Cat was quiet the whole way down,tanding next to clint as they walked."I'm scared.."she muttered quietly shuddering as she glanced up at her lover as they got to the lower levels.
 
Clint smiled a little and shook his head. "you always fight over a girl. even when we where fighting L..." he swallowed convulsively. he couldn't bring himself to say the God of Mischief's name. "even when Manhattan was invaded, you where still fighting for a girl." Clint accused, chuckling a little as he shook his head. "Cat's not a trained medical personnel. she wouldn't know what to look for, and i'll be damned if she gives me a prostate exam." "gross... just gross." Bruce complained, Steve snickering as he flushed bright red. Clint stood next to Cat and nodded. "i am too... i.. i touched her Cat... she was real..." he whispered, voice tinged with Terror. "i... i don't want her to be real... what if..." he looked at her, eyes wide. "what if she's haunting me? punishing me for getting her killed and for moving on? what if..." he swallowed thickly. "what if she wants me to go insane?... i TOUCHED her... that shouldn't be POSSIBLE...."
 
Catalina was quiet for a long moment as they stared at each other,hesitating for just the briefest momemt before reaching out and throwing the emergency stop,knowing it wss going to freak out tony,but wanting the pruvate moment. Swallowing hard before she hugged clint tightly,tight enough to probably hurt."does that sound like the natasha you knew?that she would punish you for being happy?"he shuddered tears filling her eyes as she leaned back to look at him."she loved you clint, she wouldn't want you punishing yourself."she shuddered."I don't know what this is,I don't know why you can touch her, but this isn't the natasha you loved. I promise, we'll figure this out."she muttered resting her forehead against him,bsolutely terrified.because she could handle any enemy,and person that threatened to take him from her,but she couldn't fight it if it really was his body's way of telling him he had a brain tumor or something, had no way to fiht if natasha had indeed done the impossible and reached out from the grave.becauae even if she whole heartedly believed natasha wouldn't seek to punish him, there was a chance she was wrong in the belief....and that terrified her.
 
he gasped as she hit the emergency stop and nearly stumbled as the elevator ground to a complete halt. she should have known better than to think Tony would be worried, a single question to Jarvis would assure them all that both Cat and Clint where fine, and that the Elevator wasn't broken. "no. Natasha would have teased me relentlessly about falling in love with my new Trainee..." he muttered softly. "she would have loved you, you know." he admitted softly. "she always wanted a sister..." he admitted softly before wrapping Cat into a tight hug. "thank you... i'm sure, this, whatever it was, isn't real. Jessica will fix me.. i'm sure of it." he muttered softly. "i'm sure of it." he muttered, taking her hand and swallowing thickly. "lets get my medication." he ordered softly. "and that damn cat scan. maybe i'll get lucky and it will be something surgery can fix." he muttered softly as he flipped the emergency stop. one bottle of sixty pills, to be taken twice a day and a medical scan later revealed no results. "well... at least i didn't get fingers up my ass..." Clint muttered, rather relieved that he hadn't needed a prostate exam. he hated doctors, and doctors touching his... privates... was just a no no.
 
Catalina smiled a little even as she blushed slightly, “I would have loved having a sister.”She muttered looking amused and slightly embarrassed at the idea, because she knew just how much tony and the others teased him about falling in love with his trainee. She could only imagine how much worse it would have been with Natasha. Swallowing hard she nodded,”Hopefully. Then we can get back to life as normal.”She said leaning into him a little looking happy and trying to relax.

Looking up at him from where she was sitting in the waiting chair, having gotten forbidden from following him in, she looked amused though.”Well, that’s true. Though I might have to grab that delectable ass…its just so nice…and round.”She teased as she fell into step with him, palming his ass for a moment before they headed out. Looking around her she sighed quietly, biting her lip. “Hey…hawk… you wanna do something….I mean normal?Like a regular date…”She said looking around the busy city, embarrassed about asking, but knowing he needed a distraction, that they both needed it. and what better way to distract themselves, then pretending to be a normal couple?
 
he smiled a little. "she would have relentlessly teased you, played with your hair and stolen all of your fru fru smelly things. she was evil like that." Clint admitted with a grin. "i don't think Life will ever be 'normal' for us." he admitted. "we ARE superheroes after all." he pointed out with a small chuckle. he was highly unhappy when he walked out of the doctors office. he simply hated Doctors. "you leave my ass alone!" he complained, sulking. "i know it's gorgeous, but if you touch it, i'll cut your hands off!" he grumbled before he blinked at her. "do something?" he asked, looking faintly panicked. "i... i don't... i mean..." he went bright red. "i've never been on a date before... i don't know what to do.." he admitted, looking highly sheepish. "...what are we, er, you know... supposed to do?" he asked, looking to her for guidance, unaware that she was no longer seeing him, but an image of her father, exactly as she remembered, splattered in blood, his ice cold eyes digging into hers, his head tilted to the side. "Cat? are you alright?"
 
“But its such a nice ass.”Catalina laughed looking up at him, before her mouth fell open a little. “Never been…We-“She trailed off, looking up at her, eyes widening as she looked up at clint, fear darkening her eyes as she stumbled back a step. Already turning to run, needing to get away. The child’s panic overriding what the adult knew, that not only was her father not there, but that running blindly through new York’s streets wasn’t a good idea. Darting into the street without bothering to look around her, the only thing that saved her besides clint grabbing her back, was the fact that some training, born from months as his trainee, couldn’t be dulled by fear. Responding to the car as it nearly hit her, she threw herself back towards him even as the car clipped her knee, falling and twisting to get away from clint even as she screamed bloody murder. Making it obvious that she wasn’t seeing him, couldn’t see him.
 
he sulked at her comment on his ass. "leave my ass alone!" he complained with a grumble before staring at her, worried. "Cat!? CAT!?" he demanded, moving to catch her as she fled. she was too fast, and he was too shocked to do anything more than react. "Cat!?" he demanded, catching her as she was clipped by the car, cradling her tightly, no longer looking like her father. merely looking like his incredibly worried self. he cradled her as an ambulance was called, stroking her hair and murmuring everything he could think of, promising her that she was safe, while resolutely ignoring the flickering image of Natasha who was watching them. he went with her to the hospital and sat, frantic in the waiting room, waiting for the Avenger's to arrive, they brought Jessica, for which he was ever so grateful. she offered him a smile and asked him about his doctors visit and promised to talk to Cat about what had happened. Clint took the medicine and shook his head, he didn't feel any different, but if it stopped him from seeing Nat... he needed to focus on Cat now, Nat was dead and there was no bringing her back... right? right.
 
Catalina was quiet the whole time he held her,to confused and in pain to sort out what had happened. When the doctor appeared he paused looking at a moment at a loss on who to talk to first, the man who'd come in with her or the billionaire glaring at him like he was personally responsible for what had happened. Clearing his throat he swallowed looking at clint."mr. Barton, she is asking for you. Thankfully the car didn't clip her badly, just managed to fracture a bone in her knee....I understand that she is...part of your group?"at tony's nod he paled a little."while it is not a long lasting injury, and it will heal completely, it will affect her later. No matter how well it heals,it will slow her down.not now, in a few years.."the doctor shrugged."just be prepared."he sighed because he had no idea of knowing how well the woman would heal,but if she got the right care,he could put it off as long as possible.

Cat looked up at jessica as she walked in, relief visible in her face as she looked at both clint and jessica,seeing that they were indeed who they were."I'm sorry..."she quietly staring down at the blankets,looking so confused and hurt over what to think,or what had happened. Feeling as much at a loss as clint did.
 
Clint stood up as soon as the doctor appeared and his eyes narrowed as he listened to the man, his head cocked to the side. he knew Tony would pay for her to get the best medical attention possible. hell he might even invent new technology just to make SURE she'd never have any problems. "there's nothing to be sorry about. you had a panic attack." Jessica whispered softly, taking the girls hand. "tell me what happened? Clint explained what he saw, but he doesn't understand what you where 'seeing'." Jessica admitted. both where pale when Cat explained what she had seen. "excuse me a moment." Clint ordered, moving into the bathroom. he sicked up, unable to handle the memory of utter and pure TERROR on her face when she had looked at him. Jessica handed him a glass of water when he came back out and he gulped it down. "sorry. delayed reaction." Clint lied, knowing that they knew it would be a lie and knowing that neither woman would call him on it. "you'll be in the hospital for a while." Clint explained to Cat softly. "they need to make sure your kneecap heals properly. i'm going to have Tony make sure you have the best medical attention possible, i might even see if i can't get Fury to look into the medical advancements around the world, make sure you really do have THE best." he admitted softly, watching her intently. "are you in pain? at all, do you want me to get you anything?"
 
Cat paled a little at clint's reacfion pain flickering in her eyes at causing the man such upset. Swalloeing hard she shrugged off the lie,not about to make it a big deal when they all knew it was a lie."I'm sure tony's already working on making sure I have the best. But it couldn't hurt to have fury look to."she said sounding like she was okay,but there was a new fragility to the words, as if she was about to shatter. So much like clint,they were both coming apart. Maybe they were indeed just human. Even if she coulsnt admit to just being human,and weak. Jumping slightly as his words brought her totally back to the present she looked up at her lover,dark green eyes shoeing all the emotions she'd managed to hide. The inner fragility,the spiderweb of cracks that went soul deep. He knew she had been hurt,but until that moment of 'seeing',she hadn't realized just how fragile she really was. Shifting slihtly on the larger then normal hospital bed(it seemed having tony stark footing the hospital bill came with benefits)she looked up at clint."hold md...and tell me we're both going to be okay, even if its a lie."she said smiling slightly avoiding looking at jessica,not wanting to hear what the doctor had to say about the state of their sanity.
 
Clint offered her a sheepish smile as he caught the reflection of pain in her eyes and he gently took her hand. Jessica remained silent, only watching as Clint settled into the bed behind his lover and held her tight, and promised that it was all going to be just fine. Jessica carefully excused herself and left, and Clint spent the next several hours simply holding Cat. he hummed softly to her and stroked her hair and left when the doctors came by to kick him out, but he came back right away in the morning with a worried Steve in tow. Clint had two more episodes during that time, seeing Natasha, touching her, knowing she was real. the medication didn't seam to be working, but Jessica assured them that if it didn't have any effect in three days, she'd try another. so, three days later, when Cat was released from the hospital, her leg in a cast, it was Bruce who picked her up. "Cat... i don't want you to worry, or anything... but... Clint's gotten real bad..." he informed her softly. unaware that she'd been having episodes of her own, seeing her father nearly everywhere... her father, and her mother, and her brothers. sometimes they where blood soaked, wailing at her to save them, and other times they where happy, and beckoning her to come play. the doctors didn't know what to make of it, and Jessica was getting increasingly worried about her two favorite patients.
 
Catalina flinched as bruce spoke to her, shuddering a little as she squinted slightly at the man in front of her as she was settled into the wheelchair. Flinching as for a moment his voice was overlaid coming out of her father’s mouth, but blinking hard as she stared at him longer, so battered that the woman wasn’t even able to work up the urge to run, only shutting down, and to stare at him with terror reflecting in green eyes. So very terrified of everything around her, and breaking under the strain. “What?What do you mean?”She asked as she blinked the image away, shoving her fear away as she looked up at him as he took her back to the tower. Quiet as she struggled to focus around the slaughter that was playing in front of her eyes, quiet the whole time as she stared down at blood soaked hands, the guilt that nearly crippled her in the knowledge that she had gotten her family killed.

Tony turned to look at Jessica as he heard Jarvis announce that catalina and bruce were on their way up, the genius for once, showing just how old he was, looking tired. “What the fuck is going on?This isnt…normal!”Tony scowled glaring towards the small apartment at the bottom of the nest, having forbidden clint from getting anywhere near the upper level of the nest, since catalina couldn’t climb up there, and needing the man grounded because he knew, no matter what Jessica didn’t say, that catalina was just as bad off as the male assassin was. He needed to figure out what was going on, needed to know, before he lost two of the people he cared for. He didn't have a lot of them, so the ones he did care for, were even more dear to him.
 
Bruce looked concerned when she flinched but simply kept going, knowing eventually she'd snap out of it. "i mean... well, you'll see what i mean, just... be prepared, alright?" he asked softly. "i don't know if he'll recognize you, he doesn't seam to be aware that Tony ad Jessica are there at all." he admitted softly. "i think Jessica might have a breakdown, worried as she is." he admitted softly.

"i don't know!" Jessica gasped, wringing her hands. "i don't know! the medicine should have worked! we'll have to try him on a new one... what's worse is that i don't think it's normal, it's spread to Ana. she's having delusions now too! what if it's a disease, a virus, or maybe some new sexual disease... i can't fix that!" she complained, wide eyed at Tony before turning to look as Bruce and Ana came in. Clint was sitting on the favorite couch, and was talking quite animatedly to the empty chair in front of him. Jessica turned to look at Ana and Clint turned to look as well. "Ana! great you're home!" Bruce's gasp, told Ana all she needed to know. they hadn't expected Clint to even see her, let alone know who she was. "Come here! there's someone you have to meet! i finally told Natasha about us... you where right, she handled it a lot better than i thought she would... of course, she's been picking on me all day!" he complained, glaring at the empty chair. "Nat? this is Cat, the love of my life! she's gorgeous isn't she?" Clint asked with a grin. "Cat? that ugly old Hag is my sister, Nat. yes i am aware you're names rhyme. honestly Nat, i'm trying to do introductions here... well, i suppose that's true." Clint agreed to the empty space. "how are you feeling anyway Cat? are you in pain? do you need me to get you anything?" "...well, at least he still recognizes Cat, he's not ALL gone..." Jessica whispered, sounding hopeful.
 
Catalina swallowed hard as she nodded slightly.”okay. I can…well..it will work. We can get through this.”She said her voice going soft and scared as she followed him inside.

“It cant be a sexual disease, they’ve only had sex with each other, which doesn’t work with it being a new disease, it wasn’t introduced anywhere. And a virus, I and pepper would probably already be showing signs, and I looked at his bloodwork, there’s nothing. The tower’s big, but if its also enclosed, it would have spread. I don’t know what it is, but I will find out.”Tony growled frustration in the words because he knew there was a answer, he just didn’t have one. And even after days in the lab, going over everything he knew, he still had no idea what he was looking at. And it was driving the genius insane. Looking startled at the couple as clint interacted with cat, he felt some small relief at knowing that they had each other.

Catalina offered a small smile, looking shell shocked and confused as she crossed the room, “I told you she would.”She said quietly, looking confused, her voice going that soft whispery scared, because she had no idea how to respond to having to deal with his delusions. Even more so when she could see her brother’s beckoning her to play from behind the chair. “My knee hurts, but the cast and painkillers are helping.”She said softly as she sat down next to him, looking up at him as she reached for his hand, closing her hand around his,trembling ever so slightly. “I’m…not okay. I keep seeing things…things that aren’t there….like Natasha. Clint…”Her voice broke a little as she used his real name, instead of ‘hawk’, wanting, needing his full attention.”She’s not here. None of our dead are here, hawk.”She whispered sounding so confused and scared ,because she had no idea what was happening to them, but she was clinging to the only thing that she knew, that if his delusion of Natasha wasn’t real, then her delusions of her family weren’t real either. Scared to, because she had no idea how he’d respond to her words.

Tony tensed looking at Jessica at catalina’s words,”..thats true. But will he let her help him?I mean…he can ‘feel’ Natasha, talk to her…will he know natasha’s the delusion, or think that catalina is the fake one?"
 
Jessica nodded. "this is true, and that is also true... i just.. i don't understand!" she complained, dragging her hands through her hair. "i've been a therapist for twelve years and i've never seen anything like this!" she complained, shaking her head. "i've been talking to my teachers, and my fellow Therapists, i even talked to fucking Doctor Phil and no one has ever seen ANYTHING like this!" she hissed, closing her eyes and taking several deep, calming breaths as she watched Cat and Clint interact.

"...do you want me to get you a pillow or something?" Clint asked, hovering around Cat, desperate to help her before shooting a glare at the empty chair. "oh shut up! you would be the same if YOU where getting laid!" he grumbled before he smiled sheepishly at Cat. "well, that and i love you... i hate seeing you so hurt..." he admitted, looking upset as he realized she was trembling. "Cat?" he asked, looking shocked at her, his head tilted. "but... she's right there. you can see her!" he protested, looking confused, sounding, almost hurt. "that's a terrible joke Cat..." he whispered. "you know how upset i was with Nat in the hospital..." he paused, confused as he examined Catalina, his head cocked tot he side as he touched her, ran his fingers through his hair before he moved to the empty chair and repeated the motions, shaking his head. "i can touch you both the same, see?" he explained to Cat. looking incredibly baffled as he studied both women. "...Cat?..." he asked looking around. "where... where did Nat go?" he asked after a moment, touching the chair where Nat had been sitting. "when did... i don't..." he shuddered, swallowing thickly as he looked around. "that's right, Nat's dead.. i..." he shook his head. "i... but she was... here..."

"thank god! he's snapped out of it!" Jessica breathed. "for a while anyway..." she muttered as Clint looked lost before went back to fussing over Cat, as if nothing at all had happened, offering to get her anything she wanted and even promising to let her touch his magic cards. "we shouldn't leave them alone." Bruce muttered, Jessica nodding. "i agree.."

Later that night, Clint was sleeping when Cat's mother appeared, smiling at her. "Kitten!" she cried out, sounding happy. there was no death this time as she offered Cat her arms. "Kitten! come and dance with me!" before her father had gone all psycho, her mother had said that often. her twin bothers where grinning as they made a massacre of the Waltz together, laughing as they danced around, her father grinning, eyes sparkling with laughter as he watched them. "Go on Kitten. dance with your Mom, the Twins have two left feet." her father teased with a grin, handsome and not insane, loving and happy. if Cat where to look down, she'd see she was wearing her favorite dress from when she was just a little girl, and she herself was little and tiny and only a child. the entire room looked like the large hallway that they had all loved to dance in. it was like it had all been a bad dream.
 
“Yes, a pillow would be nice.I could rest my leg up on it.”She said smiling up at him, before frowning a little at his conversation with ‘natasha’ before tilting her head slightly, “Ohhh, well I’m glad you’re in love with me.”She teased him a little because she knew that he had been scared for her, and it wasn’t just sex. But teasing him was distracting her from everything that was wrong. “No, no I cant. Hawk, I cant!”She said looking up at him, anxious and scared, because she didn’t know what he’d do if he thought she was teasing him, “Nat…isnt here. She isn’t. I’m sorry.”She whispered looking up at him, starting to cry, tugging him down to sit next to her, wrapping him in a tight hug, holding onto him. “I don’t know what’s happening, but neither Natasha or my family are here. They’re not.”She said crying because she was heart broken over it before smiling slightly as the moment past. Letting the man fuss over her as she relaxed, easily calming as they settled into letting him take care of her.

“Mom?”Catalina muttered sounding sleepy and confused as she slipped out of the bed, looking down at herself as she smiled happily, despite wearing her favorite dress on a older body, a body that had lived through the horror, she was once again the child she’d been, going to meet her mother in a dance. Smiling happily as she crossed the room to meet her mother, and despite doing damage to her broken knee, the illusion held so well that the assassin wasn’t even aware that she was hurting herself as she stepped out of the apartment and onto the upper balconies of stark tower, dancing with her mother.

“Jessica!”Tony yelled as he stumbled into the apartment, having left to get a few hours of sleep, glad that he’d told Jarvis to alert him to anything weird no matter that both Jessica and steve were there to make sure nothing would happen. But catalina dancing on the edge of a balcony, moments from plunging over the edge. “What in the hell happened?”The billionaire scowled as he edged out onto the balcony, wondering how in the world the girl had gotten so far out there, but looking at the sleep deprived and worried people he was talking to, he realized that whatever catalina was seeing, had slipped past them all as they struggled to stay away. “….how do we get her attention, without startling her?”The man said his voice going quiet as he forced himself to calm, his bracelets already starting to suit him up in his iron man suit, ready to plunge off the building after her if she fell, but hoping they could get her off before she fell.

Catalina meanwhile smiled happily, dancing with the mother she had missed for so many years, wanting to believe if had been a bad dream as her balanced on the edge between safety and the abyss, stretching out in a final dance move, one that even if she had been well, would have stressed her, but with a weakened knee, as she balanced on one foot, the illusion shattered as pain broke it, her concentration shattered as she started to fall.
 
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