This is a story that my older sister wrote, but she doesn't have an account, so she asked me to post it. Hope you enjoy it!
"You've probably guessed why I have summoned you here, Barton."
"Another mission, sir?" the agent asked hopefully, approaching the desk behind which Director Fury sat.
Fury nodded and folded his hands on the surface of the desk. "Yes, but this one is going to be a little different than others you have gone on in the past." He studied Clint Barton for a moment before continuing. "Agent Romanoff has been working with Shield for almost six months now. We have been keeping close tabs on her and she seems to be adjusting well. I think it is time to take things to the next step."
Clint frowned slightly. "What do you mean? What's the next step?"
"I am sending Agent Romanoff with you on this mission, but she will be the only one accompanying you."
Clint raised his eyebrows. "Wait... you mean... we'll be alone?"
"That's the idea," Fury said dryly. "I think it's time to gradually give Romanoff more trust and freedom around here. And I think you're the man to break her in. This is just a trial run. If things don't go well, I'll try something else."
Working his jaw, Clint listened expressionlessly.
"What do you say, Barton?" Fury asked after a moment of silence.
Clint sighed and crossed his arms. "I guess I'm open to giving it a try," he said slowly.
Fury nodded and leaned back in his chair. "Good. I hoped you would feel comfortable with my plan, since you have been on several missions together for the past few months."
Clint nodded, but said nothing. In truth, he felt far from comfortable with this arrangement. Agent Romanoff was like a puzzle to him, except with a few pieces missing, so that it wasn't quite possible to put her together however hard you tried. With her tangled red hair and dark piercing eyes, her face seemed to act as a mask, concealing everything behind it and shrouding her thoughts with indifference, sarcasm and insulting comments. In short, she bewildered him.
Moments later, Natasha Romanoff strode into the room, her chin raised with expectancy. "Director Fury, you summoned me," she said.
"I did, Miss Romanoff. I'm assigning you and Agent Barton on a mission. Should only take a day or so."
She nodded, waiting for the details.
"Before I go on, you should know that this is the first mission that you and Barton are doing alone. I'm not sending any other agents along, only the two of you."
Clint kept his eyes trained straight ahead on Fury, but felt the cold gaze of the Black Widow as her eyes shifted towards him momentarily.
"What's the assignment?" she asked evenly.
Fury cleared his throat and crossed his arms. "It's like this," he began. "You remember Shield agent, Abraham Arriaga? He went missing a few weeks ago under very strange circumstances, along with several important scientific files. Didn't show up at headquarters when he was supposed to and a search for him proved unsuccessful, and he wouldn't answer any of our attempts to contact him. We began a search immediately and have just located him today. Turns out the scumbag thought it would be a good idea to use the files and information he gained through Shield for his own purposes and mistakenly thought he could hide from us in Canada. We don't know exactly what he plans to do with those files, but we know where he is, and he needs to be brought back as soon as possible."
"So we aren't being sent to kill him, just bring him back as a prisoner?" Natasha asked. Clint thought he detected a touch of disappointment in her tone.
"That's right, Romanoff. I need him back here in one piece. I want to speak to him personally to find out what he did with the information and make sure it hasn't been passed on to anyone else."
"Should we try to locate the files and bring them back too?" Clint asked.
"I don't think Arriaga will let them stray too far from his side, so if you can find them quickly, by all means. However, don't let the search for the files delay you. I need him here as soon as you can manage. Is this clear?"
Clint nodded his assent.
"Ok, here's where our friend is hiding," Fury said, turning a screen towards the agents with a map of Canada displayed. He indicated a small town in northern Saskatchewan.
"I'm sending you on a private jet in about an hour. No place to land the craft out there, just dirt roads, so the jet will land about an hour's drive from Arriaga's hideout. I have an agent waiting there with a vehicle for you to take to the destination. Just make sure you're at the hideout by ten tonight. If our information is correct, that's when he'll show up, then it will be up to you to do your thing and get him over here. I anticipate you'll be back by tomorrow morning. Now are there any questions?"
"What if we are in danger, what if he threatens us?" Natasha pressed. "Then do we have permission to defend our-"
"Miss Romanoff, there will be no lives taken on this mission. It is vital that he gets here alive. Our tracing of the files has been sketchy at best so I will need to get all of the information I can from him. And one more thing. I am placing Barton responsible of this mission. What he says goes. Remember, you're working for Shield now, not yourself. Make sure you're on the same page with each other, or this mission with be a mess. Now both of you get out of here. You leave in precisely forty-five minutes."