Title: Divide
Author: SLynn
Rating: T (language)
Fandom: Avengers (movieverse)
Characters: Clint, Natasha, Tony, Steve, Bruce, Maria, Jane, Fury
Spoilers: Takes place after the movie. Follow-up to Legacy. #8 in Recruitment series.
Summary: It was only a matter of time before someone tried to test their defenses; before the past came calling.
Jane didn't just have any caller on the line, she had one of the best cellular-biologists in the country on the line. Of course, the problem wasn't the what, but the who, and as she'd been informed by Tony, and Pepper, and Natasha, she was under no circumstances to let Bruce know that Dr. Betty Ross had agreed to help. Because, if she did, he'd be very, very unhappy and maybe turn a little green, but definitely not with envy.
Bruce had been very clear that he didn't want to see or talk to her, not yet. He wasn't ready. For her part, Betty had been understanding and passive about the whole situation to a degree that Jane could not fathom. Jane was headstrong and sometimes reckless when it came to getting what she wanted. Betty seemed like a different breed of person altogether. She wasn't weak, that was certain, she was just strong in ways Jane hadn't realized a person could be strong. It was all patience and forbearing, which again, weren't Jane's things.
Before their conversation ended, Pepper arrived. She stopped first in front of the infirmary windows and talked briefly with Steve before heading into Jane's lab.
"Are we on?" she asked, looking up at the ceiling.
"No," Jane answered, knowing what she meant. "I have Dr. Ross on the line so I thought it would be better to cut the feed."
"Good call," Pepper sighed, looking at the video monitor and giving Betty a smile. "How's it going?"
"I'll know more when I can get those samples," Betty said, taking off her glasses and rubbing her eyes. "It looks similar to meningitis, but that's never been airborne. If that's the case, it will affect their nervous systems. Unfortunately, this is so new, all we can do is wait and see."
"It's definitely manmade," Jane added. "There can't be that many labs can do this."
"There aren't," Betty agreed. "At least not that we know. Private labs are another matter."
"Question," Pepper said, putting on her serious face, "do either of you have contacts inside of OsCorp?"
"Why?" Betty asked. "I thought they were mostly into engineering. Do you think they can help?"
"They have a bio program that they like to keep low key," Pepper said, her eyes still down cast, "but that's not why I'm asking."
"You think they're responsible for this?" Jane asked, catching on.
Pepper nodded. "Those splinters weren't just decorative. They were trackers of some sort. The idea is that they embed in the target and then... well... it's not something Tony designed but he recognized the work."
"I don't know anyone in the company," Betty said, shaking her head and looking, if anything, more concerned than before. "Not personally."
"Neither do I," Jane answered, to which Pepper gave her a hard look and then just nodded as she made to leave.
Jane realized that Pepper thought she was lying, but she couldn't figure out why. Jane really didn't know anyone who worked at OsCorp. Jane hardly knew anyone who wasn't already inside Stark Tower at this very moment. The only exceptions were Betty, who was technically right there, Eric Selvig, who was at SHIELD HQ and...
"Oh my God," Jane said, catching Pepper's attention. "Darcy."
Steve and Bruce watched as Pepper and Jane walked quickly towards the elevator together without bothering to tell them what was going on.
"What do you think they're not telling us?" Steve asked.
"I don't know," Bruce said slowly. "Let's find out. JARVIS," he called out, looking up the ceiling because, for some reason, he felt it was the polite thing to do. "Who was Dr. Foster talking to on the phone?"
"I've been instructed not to reveal that information, Dr. Banner."
"To me or to any of us?"
"To you, sir."
"So tell me then," Steve piped up. "Who was on the phone?"
"I'm afraid I can not reveal that information at the moment, Captain Rogers."
"Hey, JARVIS," Clint said, sitting upright again but still obviously queasy. "Can you tell us roughly how long we've got left before this thing kills us?"
"I do not have that information, Mr. Barton."
"Since when is he a mister?" Maria asked with a laugh, her head still in her hands and obviously joking.
But JARVIS didn't quite get rhetorical.
"Since Mr. Barton plans on leaving SHIELD, I felt it appropriate to no longer refer to him as Agent."
Everyone tensed.
Maria looked up and met Clint's eyes to complete and utter silence.
"Well, shit," Maria finally said, shaking her head. "Now it makes sense. Now... Shit. How long? How long have you... You know, never mind."
Clint looked away first and Maria dropped her head back into her hands in what looked like disgust. Bruce, as quietly as he could, slid back into his chair behind his monitor, but Steve had nowhere to go. Instead he looked Clint's way until eventually catching the other man's eye and began to make what he hoped were subtle motions in Maria's direction; urging him basically to say something, anything really, that might lesson the tension in the room.
Sighing, and before Steve could cross the room and make him apologize, Clint wiped his good hand across his face.
"Listen, Hill... Maria," Clint said, trying to sound sincere, "this isn't personal."
"Of course it's personal," she snapped. "How could it be anything else?"
"I just mean it's my business. Not yours."
"Your business is my business," Maria returned, getting to her feet and moving closer to where Clint was now sitting up on his own. "That's how this works. I trusted you. I've done everything I can to try and -"
"I don't need you to do anything for me," he said, sliding unsteadily onto his feet to meet her face-to-face.
"Oh, I know it," she returned. "You've made that very clear."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Maybe you both should just take a step back and calm down," Steve intervened, taking several quick strides and physically placing himself in the space still left between the two of them. He wasn't sure where this was headed, but he didn't like the level of aggression in either of their voices. He'd only meant for Clint to apologize, he hadn't meant for this to happen. Not at all.
"I am calm," Maria said, everything about her in complete contrast to the words she'd just spoken.
"Answer me," Clint pushed, ignoring Steve entirely.
"Your attitude. Your avoidance. Your contempt," Maria answered, crossing her arms and squaring off against him. "Since the day Director Fury sat us down -"
"I don't need a babysitter."
"I've got a mountain of paperwork that screams otherwise."
"That's bullshit and you know it," Clint fired back her.
"It's not. It's a documented fact. A well documented fact."
"Well, thank goodness you're here to save the day."
"Someone needs to save you from yourself."
"Not your problem."
"No," Maria agreed. "I guess it isn't. Not anymore. You're out, right? Just like that. After everything that was done for you. After everything that's still being done for you... that's it. You're just running away."
"Done for me?" Clint yelled. "What have you done for me, Hill? What?"
"I defended you! I stood up for you!"
"You defended yourself. You stood up for me because if you didn't it would reflect badly on your position."
"Now who's the liar?" she asked, moving closer and forcing Steve to turn and block her progress.
"Go to hell."
"Counter Intelligence said you weren't onboard with SHIELD and they were right. And I defended you. I filed a complaint..."
"I told you not to do that."
"... I got that piece of shit Campbell removed from his post. Not that I'm sorry, but for what? They were right about you."
"You think the Avengers have it out for SHIELD?" Clint asked, his voice bitter and full of doubt.
"Of course not," Maria said, "but that's not the point. They knew you were on your way out the door, they didn't know where, but they knew it was true. And I swore they were wrong. I put my integrity on the line for you and you made me out to be a liar."
"I didn't make you do anything," Clint said quietly, dropping his voice and lowering his eyes. "And if you think that justifies -"
"No, it doesn't, but I've got a better idea of why they did it," she fired back at him. "Damn it, don't you understand? Don't you get it? Open your eyes, Barton. I thought you were smarter than that. That you'd see it. But you can't, can you? All you can see is your own grief..."
"Don't talk to me about grief!" Clint yelled, as she continued on.
"...crashing down around you..."
"Shut up!"
"... instead of the real, bigger problems that lay ahead!"
"Enough!" Steve bellowed, and both of them stopped cold, flushed and embarrassed that he had to shout them down. "That's enough," Steve continued, looking both of them briefly in the eyes. It had gone too far, and whether it was the virus or just their own inability to get along, it didn't matter. It had to end. "Stand down."
Clint glared at Steve for a moment before reluctantly giving him a crisp nod and moving backwards to lean against the table he'd previously been laying on.
Maria didn't look quite as ready to comply.
"You can talk about this later," Steve said, turning towards Maria and lowering his voice. "We can all sit down, if you want, and talk this through. Only, not now. Now we've got... bigger problems."
Maria hadn't moved. Her eyes were still locked on Clint. Her arms were still crossed over her chest and her jaw was still firmly set. But before Maria could respond, Bruce surprised them all by letting out a sharp laugh.
"Bigger problems," he repeated once they'd all looked his way. "Yeah... yeah, I think we do."
