CHP:6: Beginnings and Ends
A special thanks to: Keepcalmandwrite and Casey. Thanks for your reviews.
It was three days later when the environment was significantly calmer-well not significantly but completely calmer. Clint had sported a black eye, courtesy Demyan, and stayed outside Natasha's room for the days following the whole misunderstanding until Tony Stark, the ever genius billionaire was smart enough to pull up video from the gym of that day. The footage was clear enough to prove Clint's innocence and Natasha just couldn't be alone without Clint anymore. The avenger ambience was back while Natasha and Clint spend the next two days locked in her room, doing whatever they do, that Tony desperately wants to know.
The whole matter was quick and easy, the misunderstanding didn't even seem to exist in the first place when Natasha forgave Clint, even though he wasn't wrong, and they spend the next two days in their room.
"They are so banging right now." Tony mumbled, clearly annoyed their movie night was missing three people, the two assassins and her brother, Demyan.
"That's none of your business, Stark." Cap said nonchalantly munching on his caramel popcorn.
"It is so my business when it's movie night. Its movie night, can't they bang some other time? And for god's sake we are watching Finding Nemo. Bruce, what's your say, Nemo or sex?"
"I say that's not fair. How can you choose between sex and the heart wrenching, hilarious story of a father crossing seas to find his son?" Banner relied.
"Fair enough but can they at least join us for a movie. Bunnies, pure white bunnies." The said philanthropist reasoned while snatching some of Banners strawberry popcorn. "I don't even want to know how come they aren't even married up to now."
"Something does will always remain a mystery."
Then in the dimmed room of Natasha Romanoff were the assassins Tony had the immense pleasure to talk about. The pair did absolutely nothing but lay in each-others arm for two days and had the occasional make out session.
"Clint?"
"Hmm."
"I was thinking, about our wedding and maybe thought we could have it hear in the Tower. What do you think?"
"Well, I don't mind it, al long I am making you mine but I certainly get to decide our honeymoon spot."
"Oh really Mr. Barton, and where will that be?" she suggestively raised her eyebrows.
"Somewhere only we know. Maybe cliché Paris, maybe the place where we first-I first banged you crazy. The possibilities are endless." He said reaching down to her soft lips and capturing them with his own.
Seven minutes of pure bliss later, they both called it a day. "I think we should go out now, Tony must have gone mad with curiosity." Natasha quipped.
"Or maybe we can mess with him more. You see my idea?"
"Have I ever not?"
"Come on; sleep now, because tomorrow we will mess with his head until he can't add two and two."
"I knew I loved you for a reason."
"I love your silly fights too." Clint beamed.
The next day, the sun rose out of the west like any other day, the Avengers had gathered in the dining area for their breakfast and Tony, who yet was a little blue even after 32 showers, was pulling on his hair. The SHIELD agents were conversing as they ever would and the rest was normal. Pancakes for breakfast once again and not to forget the Mt. Everest worthy amount of whip cream, filled their stomachs.
"So you remember what I told you about it right? And you are completely okay with it right?" Clint asked and Natasha nodded twice.
"Are you sure we shouldn't tell them?" Natasha asked.
"Umm, no. Not yet. You know how Tony gets right"
"I get what, and what is it you should be telling us?" Tony stopped pulling on his hair while Pepper smiled, seeming to get the hint of their little devious scheme.
"Does anyone know where Demyan is?" Natasha asked, completely and crystal clearly avoiding Tony's queries.
"Tell me what women, what are you hiding?" Tony yelled whispered.
"I don't know he hasn't shown up since that day. Maybe he is just visiting places." The Cap who had gotten the idea of the game, played along too, nudging Banner under the table and encouraging him to play his part as well. Oh this was going to be fun.
"So you both are not going to tell them. I guess you weren't even planning on telling me, if I hadn't been there right?" Banner said after a minute or two after continuously being nudged by Steve.
Tony's mouth dropped open. "You know too! Unbelievable, my own science bro is hiding things from me?"
"Tony, I think it's best if we don't talk about that anymore." Clint played with his fork, staring at him and then back to Natasha for approval.
"Talk about what, I want to know." He cried.
"Let's go find Demyan. He is staying at the Plaza." Natasha announced after wiping her plate clean.
"Mission, it's about a mission isn't it?"
"Why would we talk about a mission over breakfast, Tony? Just forget about it, pretend like it never happened."
"Pretend what never happened?"
"It, Tony." Natasha countered, getting off the chair and heading towards the door. Clint just shot his tongue out at Tony and followed his fiancée.
"What is IT?" Tony yelled, getting off his chair as well.
To end the matter in a nut shell, Tony is the genius, no doubt about the fact but as it was always said, curiosity kills the cat. And curiosity is Tony's best friend and worse enemy. Fact two, Natasha just fits the part of being a younger sister to them too well. There was constant teasing between all of them and there was imminently intense understanding too. Fact three; they were a family they knew they could never have and it was working out brilliantly.
It was near noon and Demyan remained in his hotel room, the landline phone clutched tightly between his ear and hand.
"Hello. Hello, who is it?" And the longer it took for the person on the other end to answer the whiter his knuckles turned. "Answer me damn it. Who is this?"
"We know where you are Demyan. And I am coming to get you and that pathetic sister of yours."
"Who is this?" Demyan asked as fear started running through is frozen form."
"Your worst nightmare." And the line went dead.
"Hello. Hello? Damn it."
Demyan knew what he had to do now. He's been in this place for too long now. 'Time to run'. He yanks open the wooden closet of his room, nearly ripping it in the process and grabbed his bag. He stuffed whatever clothes that he had bought with him in the bag and continued collecting his belongs from the room. Once he had packed everything, he proceeded to wipe the place for any finger prints, hair, anything that could give away his position but what use, they already knew where he was. And then the thought struck him, they knew about his location but they know Natasha's as well. They are coming for them. He has to get out of this country now and warn his little sister too. He grabbed the notepad that had been placed on his night stand and wrote a single word on it, 'Run' and then he was out.
He made it to the lobby from his floor in thirty seconds flat, which is not bad considering he had used the stairs from the fifteenth floor.
"We are looking for Mr. Demyan Romanoff; I believe he is staying here." Said a voice across the lobby and Demyan knew right then it was too late.
"Yes, Mr. Demyan is residing on the fifteenth floor, room 1524. And may we please know your reason to visit?"
"I am his sister and just wanted to stop by." Natasha replied. Breaking out of his frozen stance that had rooted him to his spot, Demyan made a sprint for the back door and had been successful in escaping unseen.
Clint and Natasha had reached the room where Demyan stayed and knocked at the door in three quick rapid strikes and waited. When they received no answer, they glanced back at each-other and knew what they had to do. On the count of three, Natasha kicked the door open and took her gun out of the back pocket of her jeans. Clint did the same, only to find the room completely empty.
"Wow, we really overact don't we?" Clint chuckled, standing near the floor to ceiling window.
"Barton, I think we should go." Natasha said darkly. "We have to go now."
"Why, we could just wait for him here." Clint said as he turned to face his partner. And then he saw the note in her hand, 'Run'. The word that somehow caused a reaction out of them so quick that they was no time to even check for other clues in the room because if a Red Room or Blue Room operative tells you to run, you damn well do it. Doing just as the little note said, Clint and Natasha ran out of the room and took the stairs down. Once they had reached level one, they broke into a walk and then took the elevator to throw of suspicions, because by the way they had sprinted out of the room, the police might have taken them for convicts.
The elevator doors dinged open to the lavishly decorated lobby and the pair of assassins put on a practiced fake smile.
"Head straight for the exit, take a left for a subway and don't look back. I will take a cab. Meet you in the tower." Clint said calmly as they headed for the exit.
"Okay, if either one of us doesn't reach the within 25 minutes of the other, we go straight to Fury. Got it?" Natasha answered and then questioned.
"Crystal clear." And then they went separate ways.
Exactly two minutes after Clint had reached the entrance of the Tower, Natasha arrived. They both nodded at each-other as the code for they had faced no trouble. They pushed the button for the common floor and JARVIS had greeted them in the same old way as it always did.
"Maybe they are married and Clint just proposed to her so I could stop making ridiculous but true assumptions." Tony said pacing up and down the floor of the Common living area.
"Tony, it's true then it no longer is an assumption and it is an assumption then it need not be true.' Cap answered bored out of his life. Because Tony Stark had assembled him, Banner and Pepper into the living room and continued making assumptions, theories and when all else failed grabbed Banners collar and demanded the truth. It was however very hard to not laugh at his face when he was blue.
"Stark, give it a rest; they are just pulling your leg." Banner said between muffled laughs.
"Yeah Tony, It's time you give up." Pepper added.
"Okay, now I know for sure those guys are up to something." He started again but his rumbles were cut short as a sweaty and panicked pair of assassins stumbled in.
"Guys, tell me Demyan came here." Natasha hopefully asked, no time to even greet them.
Catching on to their furrowed brows, the atmosphere turned dark just like that. They all got up from their respective seats. "No he hasn't. Why, what's the matter?" Pepper asked.
"Something's wrong. Demyan wasn't in his room and we found a note in his room that said 'run'." Natasha replied worriedly, running a hand through her red hair.
"Are you sure, it was his room?" Captain asked and Clint nodded.
"Maybe he is just playing a prank."
"No, he wouldn't play such a low prank." Natasha answered once again, and if it was possible her brows wrinkled further. Captain was about to say something further when JARVIS announced Fury's presence in the elevator up to their current floor.
Fury, shit, they forgot to tell Fury about Demyan, heck they don't think they ever wanted him to know. And before Natasha could wish that the earth opens up and swallows her whole, the dreaded elevator doors opened to a more dreaded presence of Nick Fury in the room.
"Good to find you all here, already assembled." He said with a one eyed glare. "Romanoff, Barton, I checked the debrief files you had signed in from the Moscow mission and there appears one name missing from it. And I assume you know well, who I am talking about."
"Director Fury, I know, I made a mistake, but he was my brother- and I"
"Bravo, Agent Romanoff, starting to grow your own wings now, making decisions you know well you can't and more importantly even I can't. And because of your misjudgment, I am reaching threat letters from a certain Demyan Romanoff, who I thought was long since dead."
"Demyan?"
"Yes Demyan, Agent. And you were sheltering him from SHIELD."
"Fury, Natasha didn't bring Demyan here. I don't know how, but he came here by himself." Clint defended his dazed partner.
"Yeah Fury, cut her some slack. She didn't know Demyan was here." Banner spoke up and if the matter wasn't of life and death everyone would be shocked because Banner never out spoke authority-ever.
Knowing his agents full and well, Fury was certain Natasha would never take such an action-such actions were more possibly expected from Agent Clint or more suitably Stark-but not Romanoff. Everyone has a bad day and this was just the worst for him, having two consecutive meeting with the egg head called Council, he was left with a decision to make; Either fire Romanoff from SHIELD or sent her in a suicide mission to take own Demyan. As said before, Fury knew his Agents well and he knew Natasha would rather take the suicide mission then be fired from SHIELD. The decision was easy like that but-and as there always is that lingering but-if Natasha went on a suicide mission, Clint would follow and soon the whole team would be on its dead march. Now the decision was difficult. The decision however wasn't difficult solely because of the reason above but also because Natasha was one the best agents and she was caught in a whirlwind of emotions upon meeting her brother. By the end of the day Natasha was a human and such choices were expected from even the strongest human on earth. Blood is thicker than water, as they say.
Silence followed Banners statement and then Fury spoke, coming completely clean. They deserved to know the truth. "Well Agent Romanoff, you decision was caused Council to want you on a silver platter."
"But Fury she didn't do anything." Cap and Stark said in unison and then all came in about Natasha's innocence. Fury just raised a hand in return to silence them.
"Personally Avengers I know you and that's why I believe you but I am not the one to call the shots. The Council wants Natasha out of SHILED."
"What? Fury, you can't let them do this. She is the best SHILED has." Clint cried.
"Director Fury that is not fair. You have to change their minds." Pepper added, trying the diplomatic approach.
"Or Natasha.." he looked at her directly in the eye, because she hadn't uttered a word since he spoke. "Or you can go on a suicide mission alone to take Demyan down. It's your call."
The room fell silent, and there was a slight quiver in her lips. The choice was hers-life or SHILED-which was more valuable to her.
"Natasha you don't have to do this." Clint said understating her direction of thoughts.
"Fury, I did not expect this from you- I thought we were a team here-shoot the Council, what do they know about team and families anyway." Captain fumed. "I will not let them fire a part of team"
"Fury there must be something, you could do. You can't just let them push her out of the company. Tony tell him." Pepper said and looked over at Tony for support to in turn was looking at Clint and Natasha.
"Natasha don't do this. We can leave SHIELD, we can stay in this tower if you want and just be normal." Clint tried persuading his partner to no avail. All she did was shake her from side to side not agreeing on a thing her partner said.
Her lips quivered once again, mustering all the strength she had lost upon finding the options she was left with. She clears her throat once, silencing Cap and Bruce from almost yelling at the director, before speaking. "When do I leave?"
"Leave for what Agent- the mission or-leave from SHIELD? Fury asked. There was hint of sorrow in his voice but his face kept void of any emotions.
"When do I leave for my suicide?"
Then with those words the world stops spinning, everything comes to a halt and Natasha signs her imaginary death certificate.
AN: End of chapter 6. Thanks for reading. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Leave a review and let me know what you think. I am open to all suggestions and constructive criticism. Your Reviews mean a lot, so please review, pretty please with a cherry on top.