Chapter One
"When you come back you will not be you, and I will not be I." — E.M. Forster
They were coming down the ramp of the quinjet when Natasha finally exploded at him. Well, when Natasha Romanoff was concerned, an 'explosion' was really just a rare show of exceptional irritation. Nonetheless, Clint Barton gave the Russian assassin a wide berth, just in case she suddenly felt it necessary to hit him.
"C4? What the hell were you thinking?"
"It was a backup plan and, in case you didn't notice, it worked!"
"But C4? Where did you even get it?"
"I, uh—"
Thankfully, Clint was saved from having to answer that question by Maria Hill, who was jogging toward them across the hangar bay. She regarded the pair politely but her expression was otherwise exasperated and she looked as if she had just been pulled from something very important just to come to speak to them.
"Fury wants you in his office." She looked pointedly at them both. "Now."
"What? We don't even get a shower fir—"
"Now."
A nudge from Natasha kept Clint from arguing any further. She grabbed his elbow and tugged him along, although she knew he would be at her side regardless of his complaints. About halfway to Fury's office, she dropped his arm, giving him a sidelong glance. She was worried, Clint could tell. One look was all he needed. To anyone else it would look as if she were giving him the same cold, stony look she gave everyone. But he saw the way her lips pressed together slightly and knew she was biting her lower lip. It was one of her very few tells.
Fury rarely called them for an immediate debrief. He generally respected his agents' wishes to at least clean up after a long mission and, honestly, it was more likely that he just didn't want them tracking in dirt all over his office floor. The man did have standards after all.
The agents continued down another hallway then up an elevator. They were currently operating out of the Triskelion in D.C., which was a labyrinth of its own design. When they stepped off the elevator, Natasha was surprised to see Steve Rogers — more colloquially known as Captain America — standing out in the hallway next to Fury's office.
"Rogers," she greeted, giving him a sideways look that clearly said 'what are you doing here?'.
"Ma'am." Steve just shrugged in response. He made no move to enter the office before he was summoned.
Natasha just brushed it off and didn't even bother to knock before stepping into Fury's office. Clint followed close behind, giving Steve a curious look before closing the door behind him. Natasha Romanoff and Maria Hill were probably two of the only agents who could burst into Fury's office without reprimand. Even Clint wouldn't have dared. But as long as Natasha's face was the first one to come through that door, they were safe.
"Agents Barton, Romanoff."
Fury was barely looking at them but nodded to the chairs in front of his desk, indicating for them to sit. When there was no movement, he looked up fully and then took in the state of his two agents, covered in dirt and who knew what else. He just made a quiet 'hmph' of agreement. Best they not soil the upholstery. He stood, clasping his hands behind his back as he did so. He stared at his agents for a moment longer, his one visible eye void of any emotion although he was clearly thinking very hard about something. Then he spoke:
"Effective immediately, I am splitting up Strike Team: Delta."
As expected, his words were met with cries of outrage. Well, several cries of outrage that came from Clint Barton exclusively.
"Sir, if this is about the C4, I can explain—"
"What the hell are you talking about, Barton? You know what? I don't want to know. Put it in your report."
Natasha just seemed to eye Fury critically. She was trying to work out why he would make such a decision and why so suddenly. But Fury knew her too well. She was seething inside — being separated from her long-time partner right after they had picked up the pieces from New York together would not be taken well. But she would come around faster than Barton.
"Sir, are we allowed to know why?"
Her tone was clipped but polite. Fury supposed they deserved an explanation. After all, they were his best. And the decision had not been made lightly. But things around S.H.I.E.L.D. were changing and this was only the first of many.
"Let it be known, I am not disbanding Strike Team: Delta permanently. For highly classified and covert missions, you will continue as you always have. I need my best. But, that said, I can no longer afford to have the two of you paired together constantly."
He paused. When there was no interruption — even Barton was holding his tongue — he opted to continue on.
"You are my best. And after the battle of New York, we've needed our best checking around every corner to ensure nothing like that happens again. I'm wasting resources by partnering you up on missions that either of you could handle solo. Whether you like it or not, you're both needed elsewhere, separately. Besides, both of you have worked solo before. This won't come as anything new to you."
"Sir, with all due respect—" Fury just raised an eyebrow and Clint glowered. Natasha seemed to pick up on the rising tension in the room almost before it began and put her hand on the back of Clint's elbow again, her light touch a signal for him to stop. Clint looked incredulous, turning to his partner in dismay. "Nat, come on, you know we work better as a team."
"Fury's right," she stated with a shrug. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has been changing around us. It's not a real surprise that this is the next step."
"Nat—"
"Agent Romanoff is right, Barton. And it's a done deal. I need both your talents and I need them in different places at the same time."
Natasha seemed satisfied with Fury's reasoning and that he had expected from her. From Barton, he had expected exactly what he was getting — a glare that could shake the knees of any regular citizen. A regular citizen, however, Nicholas J. Fury was not.
"Agent Barton, you're dismissed. I'll need you for a debrief at 1700 hours where we can discuss your new assignment from there. I need Agent Romanoff for a little while longer."
Clint looked ready to say something out of line but one look from Natasha was enough to make him sigh, shake his head, and turn toward the door.
"Come find me later, Nat."
She nodded.
As Clint made his way out of the office, he was intercepted by Maria Hill, who had been just about to knock on the door. She cleared her throat, stepping out of the way to let Clint pass, then poked her head into the room.
"How did it go, sir?"
"As well as I'd expected. Better maybe. You can send Rogers in now."
Maria's head disappeared back into the hallway and the door re-opened to reveal Steve Rogers, dressed in casual attire with a motorbike helmet slung under his arm. He looked between Fury and Natasha, brow furrowing, then glanced behind him toward the door Clint had just passed through, still visibly irritated.
"You called me in, sir?"
"Yes, Rogers, take a seat. Romanoff… just stay where you are."
Steve looked between them and the chair and after a lingering glance in Natasha's direction, he shook his head.
"If it's all the same, sir, if Agent Romanoff will be standing, I'd prefer to stand too."
Fury could have sworn he saw Natasha's lips twitch with amusement but the look she shot Rogers was still completely neutral. Steve's dated way around women was certainly nothing to balk at but it was just that — polite yet dated. Fury cleared his throat, trying to get the attention of the two other occupants of the room back on him. Both sets of eyes were on him in seconds.
"I'm well aware you and Captain Rogers have been acquainted, if only for a short time," Fury said, looking at Natasha. Then he looked over at Steve. "You'll be partnered with Agent Romanoff for the next little while. I'll admit, I've been holding you back since New York. It's not every day you're dealing with a man out of time. But now it's time to really put you out in the field, test your skills in the real world. A lot of it is still new to you and, as you've seen, a lot has changed. Romanoff can catch you up. No one understands how the world works like she does."
There was a dark undertone to Fury's words and Steve glanced over at Natasha. Her face was an impenetrable mask, void of all emotion. He sighed; he had a feeling he was going to be dealing with a lot of that. There was a long silence before Steve finally spoke up again.
"Sir?" He wondered if there was anything else the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted from them.
A small 'hmph' could be heard then Fury straightened his long coat and looked back at the red-haired agent standing across from him.
"Romanoff, debrief at o'-eight-hundred. Bring Rogers with you. We'll be discussing the specifics of your next assignment. Until then… take a shower. Meet Rogers in the cafeteria. Might be good for you two to re-acquaint yourselves."
With that, it was clear they were both dismissed.
Author's Note: I like to keep these brief because I believe author's notes distract from the story and insert myself where I should not be. If I am doing my job right and writing well, I should not need to clarify anything this way. However, I would like to clarify a couple of things from the start because the summaries are not near long enough and I feel like this is more of a disclaimer than anything. This takes place in the MCU, using references from the movies, director's commentaries, writer's commentaries, and historical sources. Seriously, I have five pages of notes taken from The Winter Soldier commentary alone. That being said, while I try to stay close to the portrayal of the characters in the films, as written by those working within the MCU, I do reserve the right to incorporate my own headcanons or some comic canon to fill in the blanks not yet revealed in the cinematic universe. This story will be my version of what happened between The Avengers and CA:TWS and how Steve and Natasha came to be partners and friends. I am working my way towards romance but it will be slow. That is your only warning.
Now that the heavy stuff is out of the way, thank you for reading this little teaser of what's to come and please favourite, follow, or review because that's what keeps me going.
