Well, Clint had a point. No, that was not the route Natasha would have taken, if she had been left to her own devices. She was too close to the details of this particular conversation, and she knew that; if she'd showed up here herself, seen him like this, heard that raspy broken crackle of his voice, she would have cracked, too. Her shoulders would have sagged and she probably would have walked the rest of the way up the porch, dropped onto his lap. Sat with him in silence and stroked her hands through his hair, no matter how much it needed a wash. She would have opted to join him inside his sorrow.
And maybe there were times that would have been the right call. But this hadn't been one of them.
This time, Clint had called the play and then punted the ball (or something - Natasha was not great with sports metaphors, but that was the one that felt most correct) and there was nothing to do but roll with it. It made sense - once she gave it a second, but it did, because - how long had James been sitting here, really? Sinking and worsening and drowning in his own brain? Eventually. There would be time eventually, for talking, that couldn't be pushed down inside forever, but right now - yes, the thing needed here was an action verb.
And so Natasha got on board, striding up the porch steps the rest of the way in her calm, capable manner, because this, she knew how to do. This was easy, this brisk-no-nonsense Agent Romanoff manner, and she took both of James's hands in hers. She couldn't have pulled him to a stand on her own power, but she give them a quick tug that said on your feet, soldier as she squeezed tightly - on your feet, soldier, but I'm here, we're here, please choose to be with us, it will be the right choice.
"Quick shower first, I think," she said. "You need something to fortify you before the - penis cake. Which actually doesn't taste too bad, all things considered. It was worth Barton getting punched in the face after he'd been explicitly told to avoid it. Come on. We'll set up something to eat while you get changed. Yes?"