Sorry for the wait but Chapter 3 is officially here. Once again, thanks to everybody who subscribed and a shoutout to all who reviewed!
DIDDY61, KatieLovesPeterPan, VapidPhilosophy, rapidfaith, animexluva13, The Cocky Undead, Aeriscetra12, tic tac toe 03
I wanted to answer a question that The Cocky Undead brought up in their review of whether this story is slash or romance. The answer is neither. I'm not a slash writer and there are a million other authors out there who enjoy writing romance stories so I'll leave that to them. This story is an action/drama idea of mine. You may have noticed that I don't give a whole lot of insight into character's personal thoughts because as a reader I want you to interpret their actions yourself. It allows me to add more surprises you don't see coming. So I won't deny any possible pairing people think is coming but I will tell you that nothing in this story is as simple as it seems and thoughts of love are not running through my head when I write it. There is a much bigger plot at hand.
Director Fury stared at the file in front of him. He knew something needed to be done. It wouldn't have been the first order he ignored, and the lives of millions had been saved because of it. The Council be damned. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter. He flipped the lighter open, igniting the flame before reaching to grab the file. Before he could reach it, there was a voice in his ear.
"Director Fury, Agent Barton is here as you ordered."
The Director stopped for a long moment. He looked up to the door and then back down to the file. Flipping the lighter closed he replied, "Send him in." Agent Barton walked in as Fury closed the top drawer, which now contained the file.
"You rang Director?"
Fury stared at the man for a moment. "How are you feeling Agent Barton?"
His expression was serious. "Honestly, sir? I'm bored out of my mind. I was hoping you would have an assignment for me."
"I just might," Fury turned and walked back towards the window in the back of his office, "if you're up for it." Fury opened the drawer again, but pulled out the file beneath the one he had placed on top. "How's your head doing Barton?" he said looking up at the agent. "Any of Loki's magic dust still floating around in there?"
With a hint of anger at the suggestion Clint replied, "Concerned I might shoot you again?"
Fury did not laugh. He did not smirk. He only glared at his agent. "Answer the question."
Clint was pissed for sure now. "Why? You have the results of my psych evaluation. Either I passed or I didn't. If I did, then I would like to officially request an assignment. If not, then I would like to officially request that you stop bullshitting me and just say so… Sir." He waited for Fury to respond with anger, but was surprised when he didn't.
Instead, the director sat back in his chair and spoke in his same, calculated tone. "I don't have your psych evaluation."
Clint was dumbfounded. "What?"
"Your test results have not yet been determined."
Clint had no idea what to do in his confusion. He just stared at the Director who was looking down at the file on the desk. "Then what the hell am I doing here?"
Fury looked back up at the man. "We have a problem, Agent Barton. And since you are an inactive agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. you are the perfect candidate to fix said problem. As luck would have it, you're also the most experienced agent when it comes to dealing with the people causing this problem."
"What the hell are you talking about Sir?"
"Eight years ago you convinced us to bring in a former Russian gun-for-hire code named 'the Black Widow', whom you had been ordered to kill. To do so, you convinced the Russian mob that had hired her that you had killed her. Until now, that decision was one of the best calls an agent has ever made in the field." His last sentence caught Clint's attention.
"What do you mean 'until now'? Without Agent Romanoff the portal allowing Loki's army into Manhattan would never have been closed." Fury did not answer. "What's the problem?"
"The problem is this," Fury stated as he slid a newspaper across the desk to Clint. The cover photo was of the Avengers during the battle of New York. It had been taken by what must have been the one damn security camera in the city that was not destroyed and was during the only part of the fight in which all six Avengers had been together. "That photo has circulated worldwide. It's the most famous picture currently in the world." Fury's tone was growing more and more serious by the word.
"It's also my screensaver," muttered Clint as he looked at the paper.
"Agent Barton!" Fury slammed his hands on his desk and stood.
"What?" Clint took a moment to stare at the fuming Director for a moment before continuing. "For the love of God Sir, what is wrong?"
Fury did not respond. He actually seemed to regain his composure as he slid the now open file across the desk to Clint. Clint looked down at the file where he saw a picture with writing under it. The picture was the cropped face of Natasha from the picture in the paper. The writing beneath it read "The Black Widow is still alive. You lied to us. Bring us what we want or we will release her record to the public".
Before Clint could utter a word Fury began talking again. "The Avengers may have saved the world, but there was still a mess left over. Congress has been calling for the Avengers to answer for the damages." He paused. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is in danger of being shut down for their part."
"I assume that's off the record?" asked Clint without looking away from the note.
"Agent Barton, this whole conversation is off the record." Clint looked up at Fury. "What the Avengers do have on their side is the public. The people like you. You're the heroes they've always dreamed of. If the Russian mob releases the Black Widow's ledger the Avengers lose everything. The public won't respond well to one of their heroes being a former Russian assassin, especially with her record. Without the public, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers do not stand a chance."
Clint shifted himself to stand at attention with his arms behind his back. "What's the mission Sir?"
Fury stared down his agent. "I need someone to meet with them. Find out what it is they want." Fury walked around the desk until he was face to face with Clint. "So I'll ask you this again Agent Barton… How's your head?"
"I don't even want to kill you a little Sir," replied Clint. Fury stared into his eyes. He still didn't seem satisfied. "Will it make you feel better if I pinky swear?" asked Clint, letting his frustration show.
"I want you to take a partner," Fury finally concluded.
"Fine. I'll bring Agent Romanoff. She's got as big a part in this as I've got."
Fury sighed and looked down at his desk before he spoke again. "No. Romanoff and all other active S.H.I.E.L.D. agents cannot know about this 'op'. To do so would mean debriefing her into 'Operation Gokova' and the Council forbid that when she was brought in."
Clint stood speechless. It had been years since that operation had been brought up. He finally found words to utter. "Then who?"
"I've got another man who's currently off duty. He doesn't seem to like me very much, but he'll listen to you and he won't ask too many questions."
Before another word could be said Fury heard the same voice in his ear again. "Director Fury, he's here."
"Send him in." replied the director.
Clint turned to see who his new partner would be. Before the figure walked through the door his familiar voice could be heard.
"Fury, what in the heck am I doing here?" The figure stopped when he saw the Clint was also in the office. "Oh, hello Agent Barton. What's going on here?"
Clint smirked, but before he could say anything, Fury answered the man. "Captain Rogers, we need your help."
Thoughts? Likes? Dislikes? Any form of review is appreciated! The more reviews I can get, the more people that will read my story so help a writer out. I'm hoping to update quicker but that all depends on how much you people seems to want it.
For those looking for more Clint/Natasha check out "Wounds" by tic tac toe 03!