Hill marched into the office. "Sir, we've got a problem."
Fury continued flipping through pages of case files, unfazed. "We have problems every day Agent Hill," he responded without looking up.
"But this one is different. It's…" Hill struggled to come up with an answer, "it's major, Sir."
"How major?" Fury asked, shifting his gaze to her.
"We've lost track of the deep-covered Agent Dür," Hill replied.
Fury sighed and got up. The two made their way to the monitor so that the Director could take a look on the situation.
"What's our move?" Hill asked.
"We send another agent in to finish the mission and get Dür before he gets killed." Fury made his way out, as he spoke. "Strike Team Delta, I want them in my office ASAP."
"Yes, Sir." Hill said, already contacting Natasha and Clint and arranging covert identities for them.
In less than an hour, Barton and Romanoff were standing before Fury, waiting to hear about their mission. Agent Hill entered the room as well, providing the Director all the documents that they had created for Clint and Natasha's covert IDs and case intel. "The mission is simple, but it will be hard to put into action," Fury informed. "Agent Hill, will you take Agent Romanoff?" Feeling Natasha's inquisitive and demanding look, Fury explained, "Agent Barton will later brief you on the mission. You need some visual modifications."
Clint and Natasha exchanged a look, but she left with Hill anyways. Fury placed a case file in front of Clint. Clint opened it and started reading. He was still gathering the more important details of the file when Fury slid his new ID over his desk. "You'll go undercover to a bar named Cavern as Salvador Barsetti, a Red Brigade member. Your job is to retrieve Agent Dür and eliminate our target. Everything else you need to know about this mission is in the file."
"And Natasha's cover?" Barton questioned.
"Back-up only, bystander in the bar."
Clint froze. The information he had read so far wasn't good. He had too many tasks for this mission and Natasha was just his back-up. He got up and was ready to leave when Fury stopped him. "Meet with Agent Hill. She'll provide you further things for your mission. I'm sure you'll quickly figure out what and what not to tell to Agent Romanoff." Clint nodded and walked out.
"So," Natasha spoke. "What's our mission?"
Clint only recognized her by the voice because when he turned around, he found a completely different person standing there. Natasha had turned into a brunette. Her hair was soft and delicate and fell perfectly around her shoulders. Her eyes, now brown due to the contact lenses, were wide as she looked at him. Clint was mesmerized; he looked at her as if it was his first time seeing her. Her skin was glowing and gave off a soft, smooth look. He ran his eyes over her shoulders, legs, neck, collarbone, pushed up breasts, every inch of her exposed body; everything that was exposed to his eyes was tempting. Her heels were black and her body was only covered in a red, strapless dress. His eyes skimmed down her thin, fit body, each and every one of her curves very well accentuated. As his eyes make their way up one last time, he admired her long, perfect legs.
"Clint!" She snapped at him, pulling him out of his trance.
Clint shook his head and cleared his throat, diverting his look away from her hot red fleshy lips, painted with a provocative red lipstick. "Yeah, you were saying?"
Natasha huffed. "The mission, tell me about it."
"Oh no big deal, just some drug dealers and stuff like that," he lied in an unconvincing tone. He wouldn't have believed himself if he had been told that.
She rolled her eyes and tried to grab the folder he was holding. "Can I read it?"
He pulled it away from her and stuttered a little, trying to make up an excuse. "Why won't you talk with Fury so he can brief you about your part? You can complain to him about your…part…"
"Agent Barton." Hill's voice came out loudly. Clint couldn't have asked for a better timing. "Come with me for a minute."
"Sure," he replied, jumping up immediately. Natasha eyed him weirdly, obviously not buying anything that was happening.
As he walked after Hill, his eyes fixed on Natasha's butt. He was so distracted that he only noticed Hill had stopped when he bumped into her back. "Sorry," he said, embarrassed.
Hill threw a tuxedo with a matching black shirt, shiny polished blucher shoes and a blue tie at him. She gestured for him to get in one of the rooms so he could dress. He stepped out squirming, feeling like a caged bird. He was a heartthrob though and if Natasha could see him right now, she would be speechless. Clint was the kind of guy who could be an adorable gentleman and a sexy badass in a tuxedo at the same time; he just doesn't realize it.
Hill beckoned him over. "We've got a few more things for you, Agent," she told him as she started leading him over to a table.
He strolled after her again. There was a wristwatch, some car key, and an aluminum briefcase on the table.
"A Rolex?" He mumbled astonished, putting on the wristwatch. Holding the car keys in his hand, he looked at it and noticed the car's brand. "And a Maserati?"
Hill opened the briefcase, adding, "And 1000 dollars."
"I thought I was just going to a bar."
"If your meeting with Agent Dür is successful, he'll put you in a Texas Hold 'em game with your target. That's how you're supposed to make the deal."
"Alright," he said nodding his head. "And I don't like guns that much, but should I get one?"
"You'll be searched and confiscated of all weapons you carry. There's no point in giving you any. You've got a room booked in the Plaza Hotel. That will be all, Agent."
"If I break or scratch anything, it's gonna come out of my paycheck, right?" He asked, suspicious. The Agency rarely gave him such nice, expensive luxuries.
"Of course, Agent Barton," Hill replied with a sly smile playing on her lips.
Clint nodded, slipped the car key in his pocket, grabbed the briefcase and the case folder, and walked out of S.H.I.E.L.D's corridors. Natasha had already left for the Cavern. It was their method; the back-up always would arrive first and inspected the place before the other got there. He'd be going to the hotel first to read the case file thoroughly. Not missing the chance to break traffic rules in the Maserati, Clint tore through the town and got to the hotel in no time.
When Clint entered the room, night had settled over the city a while ago. He dropped the briefcase on the bed and walked to the window. He looked down at the city's movement before closing the drapes. He sat on the bed and opened the case file. He read 'Agent-of-influence – Agent Benjamin Dür posing as Maxwell Lagounov, a bodyguard'. There was no picture of the Agent, but his name rang a bell. He quickly found the lines he'd have to say to Dür. It consisted of a question: 'Who's got the ball?', Dür would ask him, to which Clint would reply 'It isn't in my pocket.'.
The next pages of the file were Dür's reports from the time he had been undercover. It had been eleven months, Clint realized. Still, he skipped the next pages; they weren't worth reading. He wanted to know who the target was. He didn't recognize many of the names he read. Then he saw the name that really struck home: Ivan Petrovitch, Natasha's handler and father figure from the time she was in Russia and the Red Room era. This was the man responsible for everything Natasha went through. Suddenly, Clint smirked wickedly when he realized he was the target. He was going to kill Ivan Petrovitch. Now he understood what Fury meant when he told him that he would know "what and what not to tell" Natasha. He'd have to continue lying to her, for the sake of her life.
Clint threw the folder into the small trash can and disabled the fire alarm of the room. Then he set a small fire inside the trash can, burning the folder. As it burned, he stored the briefcase in the vault of the bedroom and walked to the bathroom. He looked at his reflection in the mirror.
"You're Salvador Barsetti." He repeated the phrase over and over again.
Then he took a deep breath before walking out and driving to the Cavern.
I'm already working on the second chapter, but that doesn't mean you should keep the reviews to yourselves!