"Have you ever worked for the KGB, Miss Romanoff?"

Natasha smiled playfully. "Not directly."

Barton covered his face with the sheets of paper he was holding. Trying more than anything not to laugh.

Typical her, he thought to himself. And for a second it amazed him that he knew the 'typical her'.

"Could you elaborate?" he asked her, biting his lips in an attempt not to smile.

"Are you going to make me?" she said seductively, suddenly leaning forward.

He couldn't help himself, he snorted.

And Director Fury glared warningly in his direction.

They were in the interrogation room in S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. Barton had been assigned the task of questioning their newest recruit: a certain Miss Natasha Romanoff.

Fury was pacing up and down the room, supervising the inquiry of course.

Barton buried himself in the papers again, but could still see her grinning on the opposite side of the table.

Agent Barton swallowed hard because now she was raising her eyebrows at him, pouting her lips and-

"Honestly?" Nick Fury shouted, his hands thrown up in the air. "You two can't act like professionals for just half an hour?"

"Agent Barton is very distracting," she smirked.

"She means sorry Sir." Barton uttered.

And Director Fury sighed slowly. Shaking his head, he gestured to the door. "I've heard enough. You two can go."

Both Clint and Natasha got up from their seats. One grave and one grinning.

"And Agent Barton," he added. "I trust that you can introduce Miss Romanoff to Coulson."

"Of course, Sir." he answered, trying to seem as respectful as possible.

Natasha burst out laughing on the other side of the door. "So this is what it's like?" she sniggered.

"What?"

"Working for S.H.I.E.L.D." she said, still laughing.

"Not what you expected?"

"You're the people that my bosses' bosses were afraid of and..." She grinned, but with her eyebrows furrowed. "But you're all just..."

"What?" he smiled.

"One big happy family."

He laughed at the absurdity of that. But when he looked back at her, she seemed strangely serious.

"One very dysfunctional family," he concluded with a grin.

But her expression stayed solemn.

He was leading her over to the other side of the building. And they had just stepped out into the vast enclosure that marked the center of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. The very hub of the organisation.

The whole place was buzzing with people and machinery alike, and Natasha looked around, quite in awe of it all. A beacon of light shone down from the roof, which looked almost like glass to the Widow.

Bullet proof would be an understatement though, she thought to herself.

She had hardly seen any of the main building before, just a room here and there before she left. They had assigned her a mission very quickly. Well, straight away; she had still been in the hospital following those previous events, when Fury offered her the job. (If the word 'offer' applied at all.) And not a bad job either.

Budapest.

That had been fun.

Barton was the only one who trusted her, she knew that. Everyone else was suspicious at best.

"So, where are we going?" she asked him.

"To Agent Coulson," Clint replied. "He'll be directing your physical assessment."

"Are you going to be watching?" she said to him flirtatiously.

"Probably."

"Good," she smiled, eyebrows raised.

He just looked at her, mystified.

Because that's what she was to him (among other things). A mystery.

"Agent Barton," a voice called, cheerily. Waving his arm overhead.

"That's him?" she asked.

"That's him."

The so-called Agent Coulson smiled as they approached him.

"Oh, and one other thing," Barton said to her, pulling her close, just out of earshot of the agent. "Don't mention the car," he whispered.

"The car?" she asked, but he was already shaking Coulson's hand.

"Agent Coulson, this is Agent Romanoff. Or at least she will be when all of her assessments are complete."

"It's great to finally meet you," he told her, smiling. But he seemed a little shaky in contrast. "Your record is impeccable," he added. "I mean your- Your skill set." And he shook his head awkwardly.

"She's something else," Barton interjected.

Natasha glared at him.

"So, what am I being tested in exactly?" she asked.

"Combat mostly," Coulson said, now holding both arms behind his back.

And he nodded shyly. "You look good in the uniform," he told her awkwardly, and then nodded again.

"I just mean that most agents, well they don't look like..." And he gestured to her figure. Then shook his head fiercely. "I mean they're just not as..."

"Sir." a man interrupted. And Phil immediately turned, exceptionally grateful to end this conversation.

"Where should I put..." the man gestured, pointing to a large truck behind him.

"Right," Phil said, enthusiastically. "You can bring her down here."

The other man made his way over to the back of the truck, and Agent Coulsan quickly followed.

A bright red convertible made it's way down the ramp, with one of the truck drivers inside of it. Phil walked proudly at its front.

"Lola," he started, beaming as he touched the hood.

And Barton rolled his eyes.

"A cherry red, hovercapable, 1962 Chevrolet Corvette. Based on designs by Howard Stark." He looked down at the car again, and stroked it affectionately.

"He hasn't stopped saying that for the past six months," Barton whispered to her.

Natasha snorted.

"Don't you have a job to be doing, Agent Coulson?" a voice asked, echoing behind the three.

Phil looked up, gasping quietly. "Yes, Sir." he said quickly, scuttling over to Director Fury.

"Miss Romanoff," Fury started. "If you'd come this way for your physical assessment."

Hawkeye looked up at him.

"You're permitted to accompany her, Agent Barton." He shook his head. "God knows, we wouldn't want you two separated for even half a moment," he said sarcastically.

Director Fury and Coulson escorted the pair through a dark looking back entrance which led to different training areas.

"Agent Coulson seems nice," Natasha said, shaking her head and smiling by Barton's side.

"His heart is in the right place."

"He seemed kinda scared of me," she added, smirking triumphantly.

"You're the infamous Black Widow," he told her. "Everyone around here is waiting for the moment when you'll turn around and crazy murder them."

"Not you?" she asked him playfully.

"Then you'd have no one to tease."

She laughed, leaning closer to him.

"You wearing perfume?" he asked her suddenly, smelling something strange in the air.

"I am a girl, remember?" she teased.

"No, it's uh... nice."

She gave him a sultry smile. And he wondered for a moment how stupid he must look when she did things like that.

They walked on further down the poorly lighted passage, until a rather small looking door appeared.

"After you, Miss Romanoff," Phil said politely, letting Fury through the door first.

The room was large and spacious, with a smaller enclosure at its core. There were dummies and different kinds of weapons within the compartment, and around it, a layer of what looked like glass.

Bullet proof would be an understatement though, Natasha reminded herself.

Fury immediately seated himself in a box at the front of the room, gesturing at Barton to join him.

"Right this way," Coulson smiled at her, leading the way to the small enclosed area.

He stepped inside, and so did Natasha, the door shutting slowly behind them.

Barton could barely hear the instructions Phil was giving her from outside of the container, it seemed almost sound proof.

"I really hope you're right about her," Fury told him, arms crossed. "For my sake. And yours."

Meanwhile, within the compartment, Natasha was smiling.

"You're sure?" she asked Coulson.

"Completely sure," he told her, slipping on these large, black padded gloves.

"Punch you?"

"As hard as you can. They measure the force," he explained.

"Wouldn't it be better if I used a dummy to do that?"

"These are specifically designed to withhold the pressure. I shouldn't feel a thing."

And he held his hands open in front of him.

She positioned herself correctly, taking her time to look right at him. A look that could only be described as suggestive.

Barton glared at her suspiciously from the box.

And Coulson smiled shyly.

Both Fury and Barton hissed and shut their eyes, as they heard the blow, and saw Coulson stumbling backwards.

And then Barton leapt up from his seat, but was stopped by the hand of Director Fury.

His gaze was fixed on Black Widow.

Natasha stayed exactly where she was, her whole demeanor directed at Fury. And she raised her eyebrows cheekily, still staring.

"I- I- I'm fine," muttered Phil from the corner, clearly not 'fine', as he clung to the wall. A large, and alarmingly purple bruise, marked the spot where she had hit him.

After getting a pack of ice from somewhere, Coulson continued directing the assessment, except now from the box with Fury; the door of the training facility left open.

Natasha stood there, facing Clint.

"You're sure, Director Fury?" Natasha asked, amusedly.

"Agent Barton has the one of the highest combat scores in the history of this organisation, Miss Romanoff."

"And here I thought you could only play with arrows," she told Barton, saucily.

Clint smiled.

"You will be measured on your agility, fierceness, and strength," Phil said, a little uneasily. And pressed the pack closer to his cheek.

"We've already seen your capabilities there, but I would prefer not to have a hole through one of my agents when this is over," Fury added.

"No promises," Natasha smirked.

The two spies positioned themselves correctly, and stared at each other, circling the compartment.

"You scared, Barton?" Natasha teased.

"I do have a first name, you know," he retorted.

"Yeah, but it sucks."

"Concentrate," Fury interrupted.

Natasha shrugged, and watched Barton carefully, still as alluring as ever.

Barton got closer, entirely focused, and a little intrigued by her animalistic movements.

He took a swing, she ducked, still smiling.

The circle continued for a few more moments, everything a little more tense. Both sets of eyes locked on each other.

This time Natasha swung her arm, and Hawkeye ducked. Grabbing hold of her wrist just as quickly as she had thrust it forward.

Director Fury narrowed his eyes at the two of them, watching their workings intensely. Every move each one of them made was flawless. And they seemed quite evenly matched.

"What do you think, Coulson?" Fury asked, pensively.

"I think her reputation exceeds her," he replied, taking the pack of ice off his cheek.

And there was a faint sound of laughter from within the compartment.

Fury looked over and saw Natasha evading yet another one of Barton's blows.

"But do you think that we can-"

Bang.

And the world spun round-

And there was nothing she could do-

And there was ringing-

And there was blackness-

And there was 'Papa! Papa, no!'-

And there was light, and there was mist, and there was screaming...

'Shush now, Natalia. You know what you have to do for Daddy. You know what you have to do to keep us safe.'

And there was 'be a good girl', and 'be a good girl'-

And there was warmth-

And there was cold-

And there was nothing...


Author's Note: So this time round, we'll get to experience Natasha's past (or my portrayal of it) kind of first hand. Because maybe there's some things she didn't tell Barton... Next I have to justify damaging Phil: Natasha definitely isn't a 'play by the rules' kinda gal, and I just thought: what better way to play mind games with Fury? Showing that she isn't S.H.I.E.L.D.'s toy, and that she's never going to be. Guest Starring: Lola, by the way. The only character in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. who isn't involved in a love triangle!

Any kind of review would be wonderful. And I would also love anyone's suggestions of things I should include.

Thank you so much to the people who encouraged me to write a sequel in the first place (much to my astonishment) you know who you are.

I don't know if anyone else heard the frankly, disturbing rumour, about Black Widow hooking up with Bruce Banner in Age of Ultron. I have nothing against him (I think he's a really cool character) but now I kinda do! It seems dangerously legit. And I'm scared. Very scared...

Imagine88. :)

P.S. I've just realised now that my smiley faces don't have noses!