Natasha's plan couldn't even be called a plan, it was that poorly thought out. She had an idea, would be a better term to describe it. An idea that lacked much needed specifics. All she knew for certain, was that she needed to save Barton - needed to save him, in a way that was so much more than for a debt owed - and that to do so, she needed to get to the landing field when the extraction team would be in a matter of minutes.

So she made the obvious move; she stole a helicopter.

Not the quietest stunt to pull, and she was sure she'd be in deep shit with the council when she got back, but at the moment there were more important things to deal with. So she found the nearest helipad, and knocked out any of the guards who noticed her. In under two minutes she was lifting into the air, expertly maneuvering the controls. Thank god she'd thought to teach herself how to fly one of these things when she was a kid. Significantly more difficult than riding a bike, but still something you didn't forget in a hurry.

"Agent Romanoff, status." Coulson's voice was in her ear again.

"I'm catching a flight back to HQ. Maybe there's something there that can help me find Barton."

"They're here too, Natasha."

That made her freeze up - not only the fear in Coulson's voice, but that he'd called her Natasha.

"I'll come prepared, then."

She landed at the airstrip just as the team was landing.

"Romanoff." Sitwell stepped off the plane with a grim expression. "I'm going to assume that things aren't boding too well for Barton if you're here alone."

"No." Natasha responded shortly. "But he's not gone yet."

"What do you want us to do?"

"Give me a ride back to HQ. But first I'm going to need all the C-4 you have available."

It was to Sitwell's credit that he didn't hesitate to give the order.

God, she hoped her plan was going to work.

Coulson reached the control room out of breath, bending over as he stumbled to a stop in the doorway. There was only one, thank god. But still - a second without someone watching it and they'd all be as good as dead.

"Agent Coulson, sir." Agent Hess spoke up, still keeping her eyes trained on the angel. "We seem to have it under control. The best thing you can do at this point is go find a way to kill them."

"Are you sure you've got it under control?" Coulson asked. Agent Hess laughed, but it got stuck in her throat.

"Yes, sir. I'm certain."

So Coulson headed back to see if Amanda had found a way to rescue his best agent. On the way, his comm crackled to life.

"Coulson, I've got an update."

"Go ahead, Romanoff."

"Well, the good news is that I know how to kill them."

"And the bad news?"

There was a slight hesitation. "I had to blow up the church."

Coulson brought a hand up to rub his forehead. Of course she did. "Witnesses?"

"A few. None that saw me, though."

"And you're sure that they're gone?"

"Positive. I scoured the place."

"Perfect; I'll go finish off this one, then."

"Wait - you have to keep that one alive." There was an underlying tone of desperation in her voice that Coulson had never heard before. If this was any other time, he would've wondered about it - but it wasn't. He heard her take in a deep breath. "I might have a plan to rescue Barton, but I need at least one angel alive."

"Alright. I'll keep it contained for as long as I can. But you'd better be here in the next three hours, Romanoff."

"Thank you, sir." And then the line went dead.

When Natasha arrived at HQ exactly 159 minutes later, she wasted no time going to find Coulson.

"I need to speak to the monitor of the Asgardian objects."

"Amanda's expecting you." Was Coulson's brief response. She gave him a curt nod before ducking into the stairs.

"Amanda, please tell me you have something." The blonde turned to face Natasha with a grim look on her face.

"I know Coulson was hoping for something to travel through time -"

"No, we don't need anything like that." Natasha said quickly. "I'm looking for something that has the kind of magical pull that Thor's hammer has - something that can be drawn back to the owner, no matter how far the object."

Amanda pursed her lips, a glimmer of hope entering her eyes. "Wait here." She commanded. "I might have something."

As she rummaged through the items stored in the back room (Amanda had been able - somehow - to convince the council to let her keep a few of the benign magical items here, instead of being blasted off into space), Natasha tried to calm herself down. She didn't know why she was so upset. Barton wasn't even really her partner - just someone she'd known for a while from a distance. But he'd saved her. He'd seen in her something that even she hadn't been able to see, something that made her worthy of saving. And maybe this was just her returning the favor, paying off her debt. But maybe it wasn't.

"I found something." Amanda emerged from the back room holding a gold-emblazoned pen and inkwell. "This was used by one of the Asgardian Queens centuries ago. It essentially works like the hammer - the objects can only be apart for a small amount of time before they're drawn back together."

"Thank you, Amanda." Natasha said sincerely. She turned to go.

"Romanoff - this plan of yours. Will it work?"

"I guess we'll find out." Natasha said with a fleeting smirk that portrayed a confidence she didn't feel, before walking into the hallway and heading for the one room that was barricaded nearly into oblivion.

"I need all the agents to clear the room." She said coolly when she arrived. She received bewildered, amused, even angry expressions as a response. "Coulson's orders." That cleared most of them out, but a small pixie-haired blonde was left, still staring furiously at the angel. "You must be Agent Hess." Natasha commented.

"You must be Agent Romanoff." Hess responded, without blinking. Natasha was a little surprised by her determination. "You have a plan?"

"Of course."

"Suicide mission?"

Natasha's mouth quirked up into a wry grin. "Probably."

"What do you need me to do?"

"Take this." Natasha set the inkwell into the agent's outstretched hand. "And close your eyes, just for a moment."

The other agent let out a long breath, then reluctantly closed her eyes. It was harder for Natasha to force her eyes to close, now that she knew for certain that there was no backup plan, no exit strategy. She didn't even know if she'd be sent back to remotely the same time period as Barton. But she had to try.

She closed her eyes.