Chapter 1: Whose brother?
The need for having company had never been stronger in any of the members compromising Avengers than it had been after the battle of New York. By the time that they had finished the doubtful Shawarma they were served, Tony was sure that there was, in fact, something fishy about the Shawarma because he had never been a team-y sort of guy but here he was offering the rest of the team to seek shelter in his larger than life tower. The fact that they all had agreed seemed to prove the fact that the pita bread was fishy indeed. He had ordered Chicken.
So basking in the thankfulness of maybe having the next month off from the mountainous pile of paperwork that Pepper had to do for him, Tony was happy to have company and have them to occupy his ninety story house. So they settled in the Tower which coincidently only had an 'A' hanging off and had been called Avengers Tower since.
But living in the company of fellow superheroes and the not so gentle master assassins, didn't mean that live was easier or any safer because Thor just loved this lightning's, and Banner hadn't been very successful from Hulking out when Tony had placed a cockroach on his feet. Not to mention and god save their souls from the agony that maybe bestowed on them when they wake the master assassins even a minute before their agreed time. Life isn't easy, but it is great.
"Say red, I know it's kind of early to be ruffling your feathers but you wouldn't mind if I send some strippers to Clint and yours wedding. Would you?" The round dining table, occupied by the Avengers team plus Pepper for breakfast was never a good place to bring up such topics because Natasha yet hadn't had her coffee. Banner and Cap had already bowed their heads maybe for praying but mostly to save themselves from the impending knife that would escape their cheeks just by a fraction of an inch and towards Tony. "Okay, I'll take that as a never. But I'll try again."
"Tony, really, when will you ever learn?" Pepper quipped"Apologise."And that was cue for Tony to send her a perfectly raised bushy eyebrow. Pepper taken up the challenge that given Tony an equally comical look that said 'Do it or no sex for a month'
"Sorry Natasha. There happy."
"Well if all is well now, I was thinking about going on a motor cycle trip across the new America. You know get to know the new world and all." Rogers said chewing on his muffin rather hungrily.
"Dude the world isn't any new as it was during your time; it's just that you were playing the part of sleeping beauty to impeccably that Aurora would be jealous." Tony said nonchalantly while generously sprinkling pepper over his scrambled eggs.
"I-I-I think I am going to sneeze" Banner barely squeaked all the while turning green. Oh uh.
"Okay, nobody panic. Take shelter and Clint take Thor on another level." And for the first time Pepper didn't have to order this out with a glare to get the job done. Natasha and Cap jumped behind the kitchen counter at the same time, Tony dragged Pepper behind the couch and Clint was hurriedly pushing a clueless Thor towards the elevator. To say the least when anybody managed to make a sound louder than Thor's thunder, well then there would a pretty epic thunderstorm that nobody in the slightest is fond of. Thor doesn't like any competition involving this thunder brewing capacity.
Just as the doors of the elevator had been shut and the numbers on tip of the wall indicating the floor showed basement level, all hell broke loose. Banner who had managed to hold the sneeze so far could not control it any longer and just gave in to the urge. AAACCCHHHHOOOO. The floor shook violently, Bruce turned into Hulk and then just as the sneeze died he returned back into his normal human state.
"Banner, is it safe to come out now?" Cap asked from behind the counter, sporting a cooking pot on his head which had managed to fall off the shelf.
"Yes, but no. Tony I am borrowing the table cloth for a while." That being said, everyone emerged out of their hiding place.
"Oh my god" Natasha and Pepper shrieked together. Bruce was currently tying the table cloth around his naked waist.
"Bless you Bruce" tony exclaimed while taking his phone out for a snap of the tomato red doctor.
"Wow Bruce orange really is your color." Captain added, stifling a laugh that was promptly cut short when a distant rumble of thunder was heard and the elevator doors dinged open to reveal a literally fried out, covered in ash archer and an angry looking Thor.
"You among you, my dearest friends, threaten my thunder?" Thor asked. Clint growled in response while everyone else just froze, staring at one another.
"Run!" Natasha managed to yell as she took off for the stairs. Two seconds the words took meaning and everyone remaining ran in different direction.
"I am too young to die" Tony yelled besides Banner.
"Well I don't want to die with a table cloth around me" he replied.
Once the situation had died down everyone had suspiciously gathered once again to watch to watch a movie. Tony, Cap and Banner came in with matching helmets and knee pads. Natasha kept hugging her guns and Pepper had a list of chores in hand. Every one stayed clear of Clint and Thor. Once the movie ended the mess of earlier lay forgotten, dinner and then everyone called it a night.
Tony and Pepper lay in bed together, the latter was preoccupied with a book and Tony had been twiddling with his thumb.
"Don't you think there is something more than partnership between Clint and Natasha?" Tony said in a serious tone. It was that tone that always grabbed Peppers attention.
"I see something in them that cannot be characterized as only friends but whatever they have going on between them isn't our business. And knowing you for as long as I have, I don't want you to interfere." She kissed him then when he wanted to protest. "Good night."
And so life was going good in the Avengers world. Each new day and each new little domestic disaster bought them closer until that very day. Oh yes that had been an eventful day. Tony and Captain and Bruce began to fight with each other like four year olds over candy and to worsen the situation they even managed to drag Thor in to it.
"No she is my sister" Captain yelled.
"Yeah right, Popsicle, She is my sis" Tony reverted equally.
"Well you guys can fight all you want but she likes my tea better so I will be a better big brother." Bruce said calmly, rubbing on his specs.
"Do not fight friends, until any opposing legitimate reason arises, I shall gladly play the role of being the elder brother of Lady Natasha."
Once again, there was a wave of opposing statements and threats and this was the exact moment when Clint and Natasha decided to walk in. Clint was smart and upon hearing the screams from the room had promptly turned around and walked in the opposite direction. Natasha hadn't been so lucky.
"Oh look Spidery is here." Tony announced. "Now she can choose who her big brother is." All of the four grown men dragged the little assassin in the middle of the room and stood in a line in front of her.
"What is going on and did Clint just ditch me?" Natasha asked, pretending to look at her nails and then over to the door from which Clint had managed to escape.
"Natasha, this is a very important issue on we have on our hands. None of us can agree on who should be your elder brother" Banner said seriously. He was about as serious as Thor was about his pop tarts, Cap about his countrymen and Tony about JARVIS.
"What-how-why again should I be your little sister? Why can't I be the elder one?" she retaliated but didn't disagree.
"Well, technically we are older than you plus you can be our elder sister but that just means you have to look after us and clean whatever mess we created."
"I agree with the noble captain of ours."
"Well, I don't want to be the unfortunate one to clean up your childish havoc so I too concur that I will fit the part of being the little sister quite well." She said quickly.
"Oh goody red agrees. Now little red riding hood all you have to do is pick your elder brother."
"Why can't all of you be my big brothers?" She suggested just shutting them up because it hasn't even been fifteen minutes that she was forced into this room and she could feel a migraine closing in.
They all seemed to consider that for a while, playing the idea in their head, thinking of the pros and cons until all of them questioned in unison "But now you have to choose your favorite big brother." And there came the headache she was waiting for.
"Sir, Director Fury has entered the facility and ordered Miss Romanoff and Mister Barton to the meeting room." JARVIS announced in his official, business like voice.
Thor seemed to groan and then pulled his hair. "Why does this voice not face us? He is a coward."
"Yeah buddy, we all wish JARVIS was a real butler." Tony replied while Banner settled in to explain JARVIS to Thor. Natasha had already felt once her name was summoned up by the AI.
By the time she had navigated her way to the meeting room, she found Clint and Fury already there and waiting for her. She entered the room and the one eyed man spoke almost immediately.
"Barton, Romanoff we have a mission for you. It seems that our discreet sources in Moscow have been dealing with rumors about a BLUE ROOM headquarters breakdown. I understand that you Romanoff must know something about the Blue Room."
The name caused Romanoff to tense; her vision was clouded but only for a minute before Clint placed his hands upon her quivering ones. She gulped down her hesitation and found her voice. "None sir, except for the fact that the Blue Room functions in the same ways as the Red room did, well as far as I know. The Red Room was built to train only girls while the Blue Room was for boys."
"Well yes, both of you have to go down to Moscow and figure out the location of this Blue Room and get as much information as you can. If the rumor about the downfall of this Operation is right then I want the names of all the Products trained. You have up to a month to complete this assignment. You do not get to take down this place, if it exists, under any given circumstances. Is that understood?" Both the agents gave a nod. "Good. Your flight leaves tomorrow at 0800." He cocked an eyebrow and walked out with the same authority everyone knows he has.
"Natasha-"
"I am not ready for this. It's just too much to take, going back to a place like that."
"But Natasha, I can only help you if you tell me what's wrong. And then if we must we can resign from the mission." He said calmly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Natasha broke out of her ordeal, raised her chin like she always does when she senses danger and slowly walked over to the door. Clint figuring out something is out of place too, began to following her. Once they were at the door, she gestured him to stop and stay silent. She took her gun from her boot which caused Clint to roll his eyes. Really something Natasha is plain paranoid. Who carries a gun in their house anyway? Natasha took a deep breath, pistol ready in one hand and yanked the door open. Without a second thought she pointed the gun at the intruders earning quite girlish screams from the grown and toned bodies of men, running for their lives.
"Really are they on sugar rush or something?" Natasha analyzed while Clint couldn't help but roll on the floor. 'They so are stuck in their teens. Morons, I am surrounded by morons'
Dinner that night was peacefully a success. No peas travelling across the round table, no loud whining about the excess vegetables on their plate and a fine collection of red wine.
"So what was captain hook minus the hook here for?" Tony asked.
"Natasha and I have to go for a mission in Moscow tomorrow"
"What the issue?" Cap inquired. Always all too interested in the happenings of the world.
"I suppose it has got something to do with the Bio weapons constructed genetically from the human blood to twist the neurons in the brains and disrupt their electrical signals until the brains dies from excess negative charge." Banner suggested. All mouths hung open. It wasn't a bad theory since everything is possible on SHIELD but does this man ever speak English?
Knocking back her sense which was missing since the meeting with Fury, Natasha closed her mouth shut and then opened it again to reply. "No it's nothing like that; we just have to look into some pesky organization who dared to threaten SHIELD and take them down." She lied smoothly. But across the table the archer could read her like an open book. The matter had died down then, to bring up another one involving desserts.
Natasha excused herself once she had finished wiping her plate clean and retreated to her room to prepare for the following morning. Glock 21, Check. Glock 22, check. Jericho, check. Once she had packed everything she would require, she slowly climbed into bed but sleep wouldn't be easy that night. One the clock on her bedside beeped midnight, a knock came on her door. She knew exactly who it would be, so without bothering to ask who it was she yelled a simple 'Get in or out'. The door promptly creaked open and in came Clint.
"Natasha. What is it? I know something is disturbing you about the mission but you have got to let me know so that we don't screw up the whole thing."
There are parts of Natasha no one knows, not even Clint but most importantly not even her. But Clint knows where she was in life when he offered her to join SHIELD; he knows her likes, dislikes and choices. He knows her like the back of his bow but he still doesn't know everything.
There was always a name popping in her mind when anyone mentioned the Color blue to her. She wanted to catch that piece dancing in her head but every time she tried it only slipped and waltzed in another part of her mind. Giving up she sighed and finally opened up. "I don't know but there is always a part of me that's telling me I am missing something. I know the red room played with me, memories and all and I don't know how much of this is true but I guess I had a brother-maybe-I don't know even know his name." She dropped her head back on the pillow, massaging her temples. Clint threw an arm around her encouraging her forward.
"Are you sure you want to go for this?" he asked gingering with no ounce of sympathy. She doesn't need sympathy.
"Yeah, let's do it."
"Okay sleep now, we have to go early tomorrow"
Clint tucked her in and slipped in besides her. They wished another a good night and were off like a bulb.
The following morning was normal as normal could be. The dining table was cleared of any black pepper powder and for once there was no thunder in the background. Once they had cleaned their plates, and washed them, Natasha and Clint bid everyone goodbye and were soon headed towards the SHIELD headquarters to pick up their jet.
Once Natasha has strapped up the final holster on her waist, there is no pulling her out of the mission. Don't even try and think otherwise, which Clint had learned the hard way.
Half way around the world later, they found themselves in the snow covered city of Moscow. Clint was nicely adapting himself to the cool climate with just a coat and scarf. Natasha meanwhile, wore a pair of faded jeans and a plain T shirt.
"Clint it's the mid of summer, do you really have to wear that scarf?"
Clint just growled in response. Yeah he was half way around the world type of hungry. "Don't ask, don't question, just let's get some food."
Once they had fueled themselves enough and were proper enough to function, they were all business. "Okay, so since we didn't get a great Intel, I assume the Blue Room will be functioning close to the Red Room. What do you think?" Clint asked.
"I guess you are right. So if we follow with that idea then we have a good 30 mile walk from here."
"Want to race the whole way?" Clint initiated. Natasha bit the inside of her cheek and Clint caught on to just how nervous she was. "Okay maybe another time."
"I guess his name was Demyan. No I am sure it was Demyan but what I don't know is if it was real or just another trick."
"Well only one way to find out" And with that Clint took off running.
'Oh no he didn't' was all that Natasha could think before taking off as well.
30 miles of neck to neck race later and two barely tired assassins, the forest came into view. The trees kissing the mellow sunset sky gave them excellent cover; the fresh white snow was a great contrast to the darkening sky. Slowly after Natasha claimed victory of the race, all traces of fun was thoroughly washed out of their systems. Half an hour later they found the compound they were looking for and the rumor was true, the Blue Room was a thing of the past now. They checked the perimeter over and over again before they stealthily made their way inside the ruined building.
They went straight for the main office which held the files for all the products and god Natasha prayed that they still be there. The office was huge, but it looked more of a file room. There were cabinets and more cabinets filled with files.
"You check over there and I'll look at this part' Natasha ordered, pointing at two different directions. Hawkeye did as he was told.
She searched high and low, through each of the Products file, her partner doing the same. About 47 files later everything in her froze. There was a photo of a man with green eyes, red-brown hair; it reminded Natasha of something she couldn't put her finger on.
"Well I am done her Widow. According to this file, there were about 254 Blue Room products. I already copied all the files. What about you?" When he didn't receive an answer, concern filled his fibers. "Widow?" he slowly turned around to find Natasha completely still and staring at a file in her hand. Having enough of the worry in his veins, he slowly walked over to the stilled figure of his partner and peeped at the file she was so absorbed in.
Product Name: Demyan Romanov
Date of Birth: 1st February 1980
Group: Ghosts
So now Natasha held the proof that she did have a brother, and elder one for that matter and Clint Barton just stood there shocked. Now if Demyan did survive the Blue Room, Clint Barton dreaded to see that day.
AN: End of chapter one. How did you guys like it? I am open to all suggestions and constructive criticism. If you liked it then leave a review. If you didn't like it, then also leave a review. Thanks