AN: This will likely (in some form) be absorbed by my series eventually, but I wrote a bunch of little snippets after watching endgame that were out of continuity order, and I've decided to just post them, consider it a preview ;)
Timing is before Age of Ultron.
Maria Hill's expression was grave. "We just lost an entire STRIKE team in Sokovia." She was briefing Nick Fury, along with Tony Stark and the rest of the Avengers.
"What do you mean, 'lost'?" Nick's questioned testily.
"All twenty three agents were killed. We think it could be where Loki's scepter is being held, based on their movements." While Maria was unhappy about the loss of men, at least they had a lead on the scepter finally.
"Twenty three agents?" Tony seemed puzzled. "In one STRIKE team? I thought they were small." He was not used to all the terms used by SHIELD, but he knew that Clint and Natasha were called a STRIKE team. He looked over to the teammates in question, who both said nothing but had innocent smirks on their faces, knowing what Tony was putting together.
Maria wasn't sure why he wanted to know the information but supplied it anyway. "Yes, there are 15-30 agents in a team." There was a feminine clearing of the throat from Nat's direction. Maria rolled her eyes, then added, "One team is short-staffed." She looked pointedly at the two assassins, the threat clear: if they annoyed her too much, she would assign more people to work with them.
Natasha looked genuinely horrified at the thought, while Clint seemed excited that he could haze a newbie. She kicked him under the table, muttering, "Don't encourage Hill."
Tony wasn't letting his bone go though. "So, who else is on STRIKE team: Delta?" He swiveled back to Clint and Natasha. He suspected the answer of course, but he wanted it confirmed. They nodded in unison. "Really. Hunh. That's impressive." Clint smirked back cockily.
"Only because when we've sent people with them, it's been a disaster." Fury said drily.
Clint frowned in protest. "That's not fair. They're all alive, the missions were successful. We sent…." He looked to Nat for confirmation. "That team in … Croatia, right? Croatia? We sent them back to base politely when we didn't need them."
"Tied up," Maria appended.
"In shipping crates." Fury kept his face from showing any amusement. While the situation had been rather funny in hindsight, at the time, he was close to killing the both of them.
"We put air holes in the crates." Natasha sounded like she couldn't believe they were making such a big issue over it. Clint snickered beside her.
"It was a 15 hour transport."
"They had water." Clint had been proud that he remembered to give them water bottles. It would have been better if they had been the kind they use in hamster cages, but on short notice, regular water had to do. "And we made sure they were kept in air-conditioned areas."
As an aside to Barton Natasha stage-whispered, "I thought the bows and wrapping paper were nice touches, myself."
The rest of the Avengers watched the exchange between the SHIELD agents, agog. They hadn't really seen this side of the spies before.
"Usually we just ditched anyone else they sent," Natasha explained to the team, trying to make them seem a little less obnoxious. After a moment, out of consideration for the fact she was part of a team now perhaps, she added, "We would have used them if they were needed."
"But they weren't," Clint said pointedly, looking at Fury.
"That is beside the point and we are getting incredibly off-topic." Maria said through gritted teeth.
Tony was watching Natasha and Clint with new eyes. He knew Natasha was crazy qualified in just about everything, but the only things he knew about Barton came from the attack on the helicarrier. Tony kind of liked the joking man, when he wasn't trying to kill everyone. He seemed pretty capable, though Tony unconsciously thought Natasha was the brains behind the operation.
"Back to the subject, this is the base where we think the scepter might be." Maria pulled up her presentation and they got down to planning.
Later, as Natasha was getting a drink from the mess, Tony sidled up beside her. "Wow, so my personal assistant is a one-woman STRIKE team."
"I'm not your personal assistant, Tony." Natasha's tone was bored, tinged with annoyance.
"You were."
"I was under cover. Then I was Pepper's personal assistant." Natasha smirked as Tony frowned at her bringing up Pepper.
"Well, it's still impressive." Tony opened one of the green smoothies he had brought with him, taking a large swig.
"Not really. I think you have the wrong impression." She wasn't displeased that he assumed it was her that was the driving force behind the team, but she also knew that Clint always felt less secure in his position with the Avengers, considering how he joined. She also knew in truth, he was probably the strongest tactician of any. "Clint."
Tony swallowed more green stuff. "What about Barton?"
"Clint is the one-person STRIKE team. He just invited me to join his team." Natasha leaned against the counter as she sipped her water.
Tony chuckled. "Sure."
Natasha's voice was nonchalant. "You'd think you'd take a man more seriously after he, nearly single-handedly, defeated the Avengers and SHIELD."
"That was Loki."
Natasha hummed while raising her eyebrows in a clear motion of disbelief. "Loki used Clint as his weapon. If he had chosen someone else, do you think they would have gotten as far?" She knew Clint would never ever use it as an example of his effectiveness, but it was the best way to show Tony.
"Touché, but we won, in the end." Tony was slightly defensive now.
"We did, but what turned the tide? If I hadn't been able to free him, I think there would have been a very different outcome." Black Widow was sure actually that if she hadn't freed Clint from Loki's control, there was a very good chance they would be all bending a knee to Loki right now.
"Hrm." Tony frowned as he replayed the events, the turning points and the actions of the archer during the Battle of New York.
Natasha paused as she walked by Tony, placing a hand on his shoulder. "He won't be the loudest, try to play the leader or claim the glory, but if you want any chance of getting the scepter back, I would listen if he has a plan." She smiled a little. "He sees things that others don't." Like that a Russian kompromat could be more than what she was raised to be.