Natasha punched the board. Hard. She stayed in that position, breathing hard as she relaxed her tensed muscles. She had spent the last three hours in the practice room, fighting the dummies and doing target practice, trying to calm down and forget about the failure she was part of.
God damn it. She said it over and over in her head, knowing it would be better to get all her anger out. SHIELD counted her on this mission, they expected success from one of the most infamous spies in the world and what they got was... failure.
And because of that damn man. The one who decided with one single nod to change her life. To allow her to switch sides.
How she hated him. She thought him impressive, even respective but she hated him. She hated the fact that he calmly waited, with all the patience in the world. She hated how he would grin, a weathered one though, whenever something he found funny happened.
What she hated most of all was how he was able to convince Fury to let her join, he talked in simple words and told him directly that she needed to stay. She didn't believe how powerful this man was, all she thought about the first time she saw him was that he was another goon of SHEILD sent on an impossible mission.
But when he held that arrow point blank in her face she knew that he was able to match up to her. For the first time in Natasha's life she thought that the Black Widow would finally get an opponent.
If only Hawkeye wasn't so infuriating.
"Shoot. Now." She spoke into her ear piece. She walked down the hallway, looking out the window to the building across the gala. She saw a figure moving in the night light, she was sure he was laying down and aiming to the man that was running away.
"No. If I shoot the guards will be alarmed and they will attack anyone near by. We can't harm civilians. We won't." The answer she received
"Don't mind the guards. I'll deal with them. Just shoot. We need the case." Natasha growled. She ripped of her dress to mid-thigh and reached for her guns. She started to run, chasing after the man was no use but she needed to get close enough to deal with the idiots who were supposed to protect the wanted man. She stopped right outside and shot at the cars that were driving away, local people jumped out of the way and went on with their lives knowing it was better to not get involved. She put her guns down hoping that for some chance one of her bullets would have shot a tire of one of the vehicles.
No use. They were too far away. Nothing in her range. She looked back up to the building and glared at him, the cars were definitely in the archers range, he could have easily gotten them.
"No." Hawkeye spoke back more sternly. "I will not put anyone in jeopardy. Just take the motorcycle and chase after him. There's only one place he could go without getting caught. At least he thinks that is where he won't get caught."
Black Widow set her jaw, about to retort, but was stopped by his voice again. "Must I remind you, this is your trial mission. I'm only here to assist."
"Then assist!" She grabbed the ear piece and threw it to the ground before running down the museums front steps. She jogged to the motorcycle that had the insignia of SHIELD on the side, she threw the helmet and sat down. Revving it up, she put her guns back in their holsters, it took her a second to put her feet in and she drove away.
Natasha zipped past people, sometimes cutting it close and almost hitting a person every now and then. She could hear Hawkeye's 'tsk' in the back of her head and she growled, leaning forward and squeezing the handle to go faster.
She was able to cut out to go right behind the three cars, she managed to take a small alleyway and cut off right in the middle. She turned back and shot one of the cars in the two front tires. It screeched to a stop and hit a man that had been walking on his way. She flinched, knowing that even though he was collateral he probably had family back at home.
She turned to the front and stared at the two cars that she rode dangerously close to. She set her gun in front of her and shot, missing by only an inch.
"Fuck." She hissed under her breath. She bent low to the handles when the car in front of her started to fire their own bullets. Out of the driver's side was a man in a tuxedo who stuck his head out to look at her, she remembered him as the buffoon who made a comment about her ass. He held a small handgun and shot randomly backwards, missing her the first three times. On his fourth bullet he managed to graze her shoulder.
Natasha sucked her breath in, not in the mood to deal with the bloody wound. She waited for him to come back out. When the large round head popped out she took her gun and shot.
One single bullet managed to hit him in the head, blood carried by the wind hit Natasha on the cheek. She didn't move a muscle. Even when the car, the dead man was driving, swiveled and rammed into the one in front. The Black Widow hung back a bit, not wanting to get into the rubble, as the car in front of her pushed the car in front of it into a wall.
Large noises hit everywhere, the first car was hit with the bricks and stones of the building, crushing under the material while the one that was in front of her beeped as the hood of the front opened.
The man with the case ran out of the car, bloody and dirty, he held the case to his chest and tried to find a way out of the area. Natasha got off her motorcycle and stood in front of it, her guns in her hands. "Stop!"
The rat-faced man turned to look at her, a nervous emotion ran over his face. "Stand back!" He clumsily tried to open the suitcase.
"Don't!" She yelled out. "The liquid is highly dangerous! You'll turn into a mutant! We won't be able to help you in any other way but to kill you." She cocked her gun, about ready to shoot. She knew that they were to bring him in alive but her fingers ached shoot him in the face.
"Oh, I know!" He yelled back. He finally managed to open it after a second and bottles of green liquid fells out, all broken before they even hit the ground. The look of despair on the man didn't match up to the look of anger and sadness in Natasha. Her only objective was to bring the man and the bottles back. Not broken.
The man dropped to the floor to the spilled liquid, trying to lap it up with his tongue. Natasha stared in disgust and was about to push the trigger when she heard the 'whish' noises.
They came fast, four of them. Each arrow landed on some part of the man's body. The man screamed in agony and turned to grab the arrows out but the pain stopped him, Natasha guessed that Hawkeye must have used some type of poisoned or chemical dipped arrows. He dropped to the ground, screaming out.
Natasha stared and lowered her guns. Her view stayed on the green liquid, she set her jaw and watched how it filled the cracks of the street. She almost didn't notice Hawkeye jumping from a low building. Almost.
She looked up to the sandy blond who took interest at the squirming man, he reached forward and grabbed the arrows as hard as he could. Blood dripping of the sharp tips. Clint took the man and put his arms behind his back and dragged him to a waiting SHIELD car that seemed to have just gotten there. Natasha turned back her attention to the green, memorized as it turned into a more brown colour.
"You did well." The voice came from behind her. He didn't touch her or stand close to her, he just stood there.
"No." She replied, looking behind her. "I was supposed to bring the bottles back. Not broken."
"At least we have him."
Natasha scoffed. "He's useless, he'd be no help. He was just the assistant to the scientist... What were they? Poisoned tipped arrows?"
Hawkeye crossed him arms and shook his head. "No. A sort of chemical that would paralyze him for a while. His body will be numb for the next three hours." He stepped forward. "He will tell us about the project he was apart of. I had to help you in the end, you had no idea what he would do if he turned mutant. You'd have no idea of what he'd become." He stared at her bleeding shoulder. "You should get that fixed."
"Way to assist and I'm fine, I'll clean it up myself." The Black Widow turned and pushed past him. "Get someone to clean up the liquid. We don't need some of it getting into a water supply or into someone's food." She didn't wait for an answer, she walked back to the motorcycle and started it up.
She took one look back at Hawkeye. He wasn't watching her or paying any attention at all, instead he looked down at the small cracks filled with the green liquid. She squinted at him and cocked her head to the side, trying to get a better view of his face.
Natasha swore that the first real emotion she ever saw on his face happened at that moment: his lips twisted in anger, his tired eyes half closed as he examined the liquid. His eyes had some rage behind them, if was only a small flash of it but it was there.
She took another look at the two cars, the very first car that had the man had tires that were shot through. She sighed, knowing that Clint had shot through the tires so they could ram into the building.
She stood for a second, not sure of going back to help or to go on with her plan of sulking till she had to report to Fury.
She picked the latter.
Natasha threw her leg over the seat and shifted comfortably on top of it. She revved it two times before circling back to ride around the city.
They'd be able to find her, all they needed was Hawkeye and his special eyes.
It was such an easy mission for her. She was able to do it within a couple of hours before anything getting messy. They were to go to Chicago and deal with a scientist that had created a liquid that would act as a mutant gene for a normal human, with the outbreak of random changed humans SHIELD was to take care of it. Fury himself trusted, or at least Clint assured him that she would be able to do it, her enough to give her the mission to get the last couple of vials from the hands of the scientist who was making the chemical. A scientist who studied mutants, someone under Stryker.
But no. The fool of the man had to be injected with the liquid, he turned into something that Natasha wasn't able to defeat easily. The pale pink skin turned blue and rock hard, not one single bullet managed to pierce his skin, his head enlarged and horns grew from his forehead. She was glad that he only gained super strength, it made it a little easier to fight him. With other SHIELD agents she was able to clear out the museum and get the mutated man under control. But the scientist's assistant ran away with the case and they needed it.
Natasha was so sure, so sure that she would have gotten it and prove her mettle to Fury.
She laughed under her breath and stepped away from the board, she looked at it and ran her fingers down the cracks where her fist impacted. She had to leave. She had to go and pack her stuff and leave. She'd steal some weapons though, take the motorcycle too. They'd help get her farther. She nodded, plans already forming in her head. She'd have to delete all traces of her in the SHIELD system and leave the city in private company. She'd go west and stay low for a while, Natasha knew she wasn't for this business. Dealing with greedy men was one thing but mutants? It went past her resume.
Natasha sighed, grabbing a towel and wiping her face. She stood looking at the board. What would she do about Hawkeye though? He would be sure to find her again and she wasn't about to kill-
"Fury wants us. He's wants to talk."
She quickly turned around expecting a soldier but the lazy and low tone told her different. Clint leaned against the doorway, not staring completely at her. His view laid on the board, seemingly memorized in the cracks.
"Right." She nodded, walking forward. She was about to pass him when she paused, staring at the side of his face she opened her mouth about to say something but she stopped herself at that moment
He walked ahead of her, not waiting for her to catch up. Natasha cleared her throat and walked behind him. "Why?" She finally asked after two weeks of waiting to see if he'd talk to her about it.
"Why what?"
"Why did you let me live?"
He stopped and turned his head slightly to give her a raised eyebrow. "What can I say?
"You can say the reason why you let me join SHIELD. I was never on good terms with them."
"Oh, I know. We've been keeping track on you for years. You're not as secret as you thought."
Natasha's eyes narrowed. "And yet they didn't send you at first. For years you've sent men who are incapable of carrying out the mission."
"They didn't want to bring me in. I was a last minute resort."
"Oh, so at that point they ran out idiots to send to get killed or injured." She remarked bitterly.
"It was either me or Fury."
That stopped Natasha, she closed her mouth and walked silently. Fury was capable of doing anything, she heard of the things he did. Even the board was frightened of him.
Clint remained quiet for a while before finally talking. "The reason I let you live is because you said sorry."
Her eyebrows furrowed. "I said sorry?"
"To the man. Right before you shot him."
Natasha gulped and kept her head low, she was sure no one had heard her or that no one was near. That job didn't require anyone to die, she just needed to steal something for the person who hired her. She didn't expect to run into a young man, who looked around his early 20s, who wanted to stop her. She just had to kill him, she didn't need anyone to witness her. But she couldn't believe that Clint was there, quiet as a mouse and watching her. She raised her head and was about to retort when he interrupted.
"How's your shoulder?"
"It's fine. I cleaned it out and bandaged it up." She gritted her teeth, here it was again: his calm and gentle way of annoying her.
"Good." Clint stopped in front of a door and after voice recognition it opened for them. Stepping through Natasha saw Fury with his back towards them, he seemed to be talking into a computer. She took a look around the white room, it was devoid of any colour and the only furniture was the desk and chair with a giant computer screen on the wall in the back.
"I will report later." The gruff voice came from the director. He shut of the video camera and turned to the two. Natasha stood pin straight waiting for the man to talk while Clint had managed to hide away in the corner of the room.
"Well?" The one eye looked back and forth between them.
"We managed to grab the assistant." Natasha decided that she would talk.
"Not the scientist?"
"No. We had to bring him down. He injected himself with the mutant gene."
"And the liquid?"
"The cases were broken when the assistant tried to take them out. We had no way of collecting it in it's pure form."
Fury sighed and looked at Clint. "Agent Barton, is what she saying true?"
"Yes." Came the lazy reply, but the tone was more alert than usual. Natasha took note of it, that even Clint respected the director enough to talk to him in a formal manner.
"Dammit." Fury took a seat in his chair and leaned back. He stared at Natasha but talked to Clint. "And what is your assessment of Miss. Romanov?"
Natasha turned to Clint within a second, she stared at his blank expression. She had no idea that he would give a report on her to Fury. "She would be willing to go to extremes. Is reckless and is easily irritated-"
She gritted her teeth, thanks asshole. She sent out to him. This was it. After he finally said that she would be no good for the organization they would put her in prison. The plans she thought of escaping came back into her mind.
"But training in SHEILD would do her good." Clint smiled lightly. "What is it people say?"
"A diamond in the rough." Fury offered and Clint nodded. Natasha's mouth opened and she stared at both of them. She couldn't believe how easily they just juggled her position, her status.
"But sir." She started. "What about the liquid and the men who work for this... Stryker?"
"I know people. People specialized in different ways who would be able to deal with this mutant problem." Fury answered.
"Those X-people, right?" Clint spoke up.
"Yes. They're willing to solve it. So it's off our hands now." Both agents nodded in understanding. "Anyways, I have a mission for you two. Since we got the whole trial thing out of our way we need to start talking big time."
Already? Natasha thought, she always had some time to herself after doing one of her jobs.
"And what is you need for us to do?"
"A difficulty we're having in Budapest." Fury stood and went to the computer, he opened files and started talking about the mission.
Both agents payed close attention. Clint walked forward and stood by Natasha. She didn't even move away from him.
It wasn't later that Natasha found out that even though she thought Clint annoying she found his presence comforting. She even let him call her Tasha.
She felt comfortable enough with him to even fight maybe aliens. She laughed at the thought while she packed her guns under her clothes in the suit case.
Designation: Budapest , Hungary.
Agent Clint and Agent Romanov walked down the air lane with only a suitcase each, ready to fight.
((Requested by Vocaloid-Lova.))
((Image found: /the-heroic-age-new-creative-team-starting-in-black-widow-6/ ))
((A/N: Now I decided to change Natasha's character a little bit because this was before she joined SHIELD so I was thinking of making her a bit more reckless since she would be younger. I don't think I did too bad with it considering that I basically did a twist to her character. And at the end there is a reference to X-Men. It's this whole thing I don't feel like writing out right here but if anyone has questions please PM me.))