๐๐๐๐๐๐๐;โฃ
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A hot core in the centre of his chest, molten blood pumping through buzzing veins, pain threatening to boil over and consume his entire body. Clint clung to the edge of the cliff face, his fingers gripping rock ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ enough to turn his dusty knuckles white. He couldn't look away. Even after clambering up the rope that she'd affixed to him to save his life, he couldn't tear his eyes from the broken body of Natasha Romanoff. โฃ
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A mess of orange hair surrounded by a quickening pool of crimson, his heart lay crippled and gone against the gargantuan stone circle. An eternal resting place surrounded by foggy violet skies and the morbid whispers of a thousand sacrificial loved ones, she deserved better than this. โฃ
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She deserved ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐จ. โฃ
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Long, winding decades filled with friendship and happiness, a ragtag family that she'd chosen. Board-games around a glass table. Silent footsteps sneaking midnight snacks. Russian secrets, a burden shared, between ex-assassin friends. Soft blankets, duvet days and movie nights. Companionship, family, safety. Everything her cruel childhood masters had stolen from her. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด.โฃ
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His body ๐๐๐ก๐๐ with it. As tears began to spill over his mud-splattered cheeks, the devastated hero screamed into the empty abyss. Pure, unadulterated horror spilled from his mouth, echoing into the deadly canyon below as every snapshot of their past began to filter through his mind. โฃ
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Moscow. Krakรณw. Budapest.โฃ
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Coffee in New York. Breakfast at Tony's. Midnight in Paris.โฃ
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Emerald green eyes, a phoenix tail of wild hair, that fucking know-it-all smirk. Her hand in the small of his back. The silver arrow pendant he gave her for Christmas. Stolen kisses behind the burnt-out wreckage of an ongoing battle. โฃ
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Not anymore. ๐๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ข๐ค๐ง๐.โฃ
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Bullets and arrows straight through the beating heart in his chest, the love of his life lay dashed across an uninhabitable forever.โฃ
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Originally written and shared as part of Verbuary 2020: https://tinyurl.com/5d783p9h
ใณใกใณใ