Monthly Challenges for All - Harmony of Souls Eternal

Fill #12

Representations: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Nastaha Romanov, Triad

Bonus Challenges: Schooner, Obscure

Word count: 1,734

Warning: One mention of paedophilia

The Red Room teaches the philosophy that love is for children. No girl belonging to the Red Room remains a child for very long. Natasha had taken on the philosophy with a grain of salt. In her mind, she held two empty spaces that she knew were where soulmates belonged. If love was merely for children, why would there be such a thing as a soulmate that would stay with you for however long they could?

But to think such things was strongly discouraged within the Red Room and Natasha remained silent. Her teachers thought her a perfect specimen of what they were trying to achieve and often sent her out on missions where a young girl would be useful. From eight onwards, Natasha grew used to using her appearance as a lure.

As a child, she used her youth to con people into joining her on the pretence of looking for her guardians. Occasionally she used her youth to reel in those that took delight in young girls. As she grew older, that was more and more the case until she became known as the Black Widow and specialised in luring in people with her sexual appeal and killing them.

Sometimes, she wondered what her soulmates would think of her. She was a killer and had not hesitated to use all the tools at her disposal to get the job done, no matter that it was common practice for soulmates to remain 'pure' until they met each other. There was no way for Natasha to keep to that tradition in her line of work and if she told her handlers that she had a soulmate waiting for her, they would kill her within seconds.

A soulmate was a chance for her to be compromised and the Red Room could not allow that. They had trained her to be a deadly assassin and she was one of their best assets, they couldn't afford to lose her to another organisation or to civilian life. It was one of the reasons that girls in the Red Room were made infertile and taught that love was for children. There would be no emotional attachments to draw their loyalty away from the organisation that made them.

Unfortunately for them, Natasha hid the existence of her soulmates from them and never told another living soul. On a mission she saw a SHIELD operative that she recognised as the owner of one of the spaces in her mind. The next week the Red Room lost the Black Widow. She vanished from their sights and showed up on SHIELD's instead, allowing them to find her.

She thought it fitting that the same man she saw on her last mission with the Red Room was the one assigned to her case. She was glad that he had it in him to ignore orders, sure that SHIELD had ordered her death (something that the man confirmed within five minutes of introducing himself and inviting her to join SHIELD). She accepted his offer, of course. How could she not?

When Clint (as he insisted he call her) showed no sign of soulmate recognition, she wondered if he was the one who barricaded themselves behind strong walls. For years she had been observing those walls, trying to break through them before that. She had stopped using a mental battering ram on the walls after the Red Room had taught her the importance of patience, of waiting out the target and letting them relax their guard.

Natasha watched the wall and she watched Clint, unsure if he was the one behind the wall. When he stumbled to a stop and she could feel his presence fill the open space one day in a random SHIELD corridor, she knew that she still had to find the one who was behind the wall. Clint was staring at her, an utterly flabbergasted expression on his face and she could only roll her eyes and drag him towards the training room, all the while muttering about his supposed perfect vision and yet sheer blindness when she was standing right in front of him.

She had only one question for Clint now that he had acknowledged the bond between them. She had to know if it was just her who was blocked by their soulmate and felt something relax in her when she learned that he too, had a wall blocking him. They sparred after that, knowledge of the other's moves and incidental transmitting through the bond allowing them to be almost perfectly matched and ending in a draw.

When Phil Coulson handed them a mission file, it was instinctual to retire to the same room, look over the file and (as ordered by Phil) get some rest. The mission twenty-four hours later was a breeze. With their bond acknowledged, they become like a well-oiled machine, working in perfect harmony together. It was exhilarating.

All they were missing was the person hiding behind walls slowly becoming weaker and weaker. When she had first noticed the wall, it had been a plaster barrier. Then it had become timber when she knocked, followed by stone, brick, concrete, steel, until finally it was an impenetrable fortress she had no hope of breaking down.

But Natasha learned patience and, as she had advised Clint to do not so long ago, she waited for their soulmate to let down their guard. The fortress was now merely a wall of plywood strength, she could feel vague impressions from the one behind them and hoped that they would soon let their defences fall.

It happened during one of the impromptu gatherings Clint insisted on having sometimes in Phil's office. He declared that if he and Natasha were going around creating paperwork for their favourite handler, the least they could do was keep him company and his coffee cup full while he did said paperwork. Natasha didn't mind, she would never tell anyone (though she had a feeling Clint already knew), but the gatherings were one of the times she felt completely at peace.

Phil had somehow gotten a purple couch (clearly Clint's idea or at least inspired by him) in his office and it was a lovely place to have a nap. The two assassins generally spent their time sprawled all over the couch, only moving when Phil's coffee levels were getting low. They looked up now as Phil sighed and stood up.

Instead of proceeding to pick up his coffee mug and making his way to the door (where one of them would inevitably steal the mug from him and go to fill it up themselves), he walked over to them and collapsed in the small space still available on the four-seater couch.

"If I see one more Form 332-564 tonight, I may send you two out to kill someone for me," the man said, eyes closed as he slumped on the couch.

Clint patted Phil on the shoulder, "There, there, Phil, you know all you have to do is ask and we'll hunt down anyone you want us to."

"I know," Phil agreed, letting out a huff of laughter.

Natasha shifted slightly, letting her head fall on Phil's shoulder in silent comfort and agreement of Clint's statement. As though that was the final action the now-wet-plaster wall needed, it collapsed and she could feel Phil finally taking up residence in her mind. Three sharp intakes of breath followed the crumbling wall and she knew the walls were gone for everyone.

It had always bugged her that Agent Coulson was the only other person at SHIELD besides Clint that she felt comfortable using his first name, now it made sense. Even with Phil's wall, she had subconsciously known it was him and that allowed her to be at ease with the informality. It made sense why their gatherings were always so peaceful, they had inadvertently been spending time with the two people they were linked to.

Clint joined her in resting his head on Phil's other shoulder and asked, "Why?"

"I didn't see the point," Phil sighed. "I was a soldier, the chances of me dying were high and I didn't want to put anyone through that. When I joined SHIELD, I didn't want to have to hide anything from two people who would mean so much to me."

"And now?" she couldn't help herself asking. Would Phil still deny them, even knowing who they were?

"Now I see no point in trying to keep you out. I already love the two of you, and I have no need to keep secrets from either of you."

She snuggled closer and knew Clint was doing the same, "No more walls?" Clint questioned and Phil smiled.

"No more walls."

After almost drifting off to sleep in the rather uncomfortable (and yet most comfortable due to who they were with) position, Phil groaned and sat up, dislodging his soulmates as he did so. Natasha unfolded herself and collected Phil's mug before heading out to fill it as Phil once more sat at his desk (Clint merely stretched out flat and continued to doze).

When she returned, it was to find Clint offering up his arrows to Phil who looked sorely tempted to accept them. She placed the mug on the special coaster and leaned over Phil's shoulder to see the document he was working on. Form 332-564.

"Do we need to track them down and kill them, Phil?" she inquired.

Phil sighed, rubbing his temples, "I doubt Fury would be very happy if we killed his Deputy Director…" He gazed thoughtfully into space for a few moments, Natasha and Clint silent as they waited for their orders. "I've heard Hill hates opera music with a passion," he mused, seemingly to himself before picking up his pen and filling in the page before him.

The next day, Deputy Director Maria Hill found herself having to tear apart her office to find the various music players that blasted out opera music. Given that one such device was up in the vents and had a sticky note attached to it saying This is your own fault – C+N, she had a pretty good idea who the culprits were. What she didn't know was how it was her own fault. She barely interacted with Hawkeye and Black Widow, what could she possibly have done for them to feel they had to torment her with opera?