Coulson was not scared by much. He had been working with Shield long enough that it took quite a bit to shake him. He had led teams into missions he knew most of them would not emerge from. He had heard secrets that could destroy the world. He had been the one to approach the Black Widow with an offer to join Shield, after Hawkeye insisted she would be a good asset to the team. All of those things had been hard to do, but they hadn't scared him. Not in the way that he was scared right now.
He paused outside of the debriefing room, took a deep breath, reshuffled the papers in his head, and gathered his thoughts. Maybe she would handle the news well. Things weren't totally helpless yet, she might even think this was nothing to worry about, and be annoyed Coulson had pulled her out of the gym just to inform her that Clint had been captured by Hydra.
It would be nice if that happened. But Phil knew his agent better than that, there was no way Natasha was going to be ok with this.
Taking a deep breath, he entered the room. Natasha was sitting at the table already, eyes scanning the room, as if looking for a way to escape. Phil tried to smile, she didn't smile back. He wasn't surprised.
"Agent Romanoff, thank you for meeting me on such short notice." The agent's face didn't change. "What's wrong? Is the world ending, or did you just suddenly have the urge to call me in for a meeting because you wanted to talk about a new Captain America trading card that you found?"
Phil actually smiled at this. "Now that you mention it, heh, if you have time later I did find a new one, limited edition, I only need three more to finish this set….. Maybe if you want to see it later, I actually have it with me if you want me to show you after this meeting….." Natasha's eyes narrowed, Phil cleared his throat.
"Anyway. That's besides the point. Natasha, I called you in here today because I do have some unfortunate news for you….. I hate to be the one to tell you this but…. Agent Barton has been compromised."
Natasha visibly tensed up at this news, her fingers clenched into fists on the table, and she took a deep breath. "Where was he last heard from?" "We sent him on an undercover mission, he was supposed to infiltrate a Hydra base so that he could gather intel for us."
The Black Widow's eyes flared angrily. "What? Why would you send him to one of those?! Why the hell didn't you send me instead?" "We needed a male for this job, and we also needed someone that Hydra didn't already have on their 'kill on sight' list.
She was glaring at him, the look on her face would send most men running from the room. "Well, why didn't you tell me he was going on the mission then? I could have helped you! Given you intel, I could have been there to have his back!"
She wasn't yelling yet, but her voice was getting louder with every word that came out of her mouth. Phil put on his authoritative, "I am your handler you do what I say" attitude. "We didn't tell you because this mission was strictly confidential Romanoff. The council decided that it was in everyones best interest that you not be involved in this one."
If looks could kill, Coulson would have been dead and buried by now. "Oh, well is it in anyones best interest that my partner was captured, and is going through who knows what now because I wasn't there to cover his back? I've been here for almost two years now Coulson, I should have been told about this."
Phil grimaced. "This wasn't my fault Natasha, if I'd had a choice I would have sent you with him, this was up to Fury and the council. Technically I'm not even supposed to tell you about this, but Fury owed me a favor, and I thought that you should know. We honestly don't know anything right now, just where he was last heard from, and that we lost contact with him two days ago."
Natasha opened her mouth, but before she could say anything Clint held up a hand to stop her. "I'm sorry Romanoff, I can't tell you anything more than that. I just wanted to let you know. I'll keep you updated when I hear anything- Well,I'll keep you updated on what I'm allowed to tell you. We're doing everything that we can to find him."
Natasha's hands were still clenched in fists. "Are you sending me out there to look for him?" Coulson paused for a long moment, and sighed. "I'm sorry Natasha, the council doesn't think that's a good idea. They want you to go on a surveillance mission in Chicago."
The Black Widow stood up angrily, and pushed her hair out of her face. "If you're not sending me in there, you are not doing everything to find him. You know I'm his best chance, without me he's as good as dead." Her handlers shoulders slumped down and he shuffled the papers still in his grasp helplessly.
"I don't know what I can tell you Romanoff. Actually I do know- I can't tell you anything. It's strictly confidential. The council wants you to go on this surveillance mission, you leave tomorrow, Fury hoped it would help you keep your mind off of things."
He held out the packet of files, and Natasha ripped them from his hand. "Do you know what a huge mistake you're making Phil?" He sighed, "You know this isn't my fault. If it was up to me, I would have you out on a plane tonight. But I can't tell you to go against the councils orders."
Natasha held his gaze for a long moment, finally broke eye contact. "Thanks for telling me about Barton. I'll see you when I get back."
Phil assumed that she meant when she got back from Chicago. He should have known Natasha better than that, she was already figuring out what she was going to have to do in order to get her partner back before the end of the week.