Chapter 7
Alisa tore through the streets, following the target with a throwing knife in one hand, pistol in the other. After escaping the building by flipping down the poles on the fire escapes she had begun to run and run, occasionally jumping over a barrel or hurdling over a box. She was silent and went unnoticed by him. Leo Naccari. The drug dealer and government people killer. Alisa didn't know why he had started running during his drug dealing meeting, she had stuck to the shadows and kept to her hidden code name, Crystal, as in Crystal Clear. The subject had just turned a right corner and the brunette was about to follow, when Alisa was jumped upon from above. As the other person was on her back, about to bite her on the neck, Alisa delivered a swift kick to her gut, to which the other girl fell off. They began to spar, delivering kicks, punches and the occasional elbow to the other.
Alisa aimed a punch to her stomach, which the other girl dodged but managed to grab her hand and twist the brunette around. The twenty one year old then used her gymnastic skills to jump over the top of the red head and put her in a headlock which doesn't last for long as she pulled free and grabbed Alisa's arm and twisted it behind her. The younger one then again knocked the other in the gut, forcing her to let go again. The ginger then jumped on top of the brunette and held a knife to her throat. She was about to strike when their eyes connected and Alisa gave a bloody grin.
"Are you going to kill me? Another S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent?"
Then Rosie realised who it was. The Agent that had helped pick up her sheets the morning before. The one that she thought looked like- she really did. Clint. And Natasha. A perfect mix. Natasha's eyes, Clint's hair, a mix of the two. Clint had told her Natasha had gone rouge for a year, September 1999 to September 2000. This one looked about twenty one. Natasha went to visit- This girl was the reason she was dead. NATASHA WAS DEAD BECAUSE OF THIS LITTLE GIRL!
"You killed her..." Rosie whispered, realisation dawning. "And you made me lose my friking target!"
"I think you'll find that you were the one who jumped on my back." Alisa quietly stated. She had lost her target too, possibly the same one.
"I NEED to do this!" Rosie complained, taking off again, Alisa hot on her heels.
They ran for half an hour, a whole one, trying to find the target. After two, they decided that the target was lost. Alisa looked slightly crest fallen, she had never lost a target before. Rosie was damn annoyed, she had almost got him then this little girl, this rookie agent, had gotten in her way. Rosie hadn't guessed that Alisa was still following her, in her eyes no rookie agent could have stamina of that calibre. Like hers. Yes, Rosie thought, that annoying rookie must have stopped long ago. So when she stopped dead, she was surprised at the small force that hit her from behind.
"I'm so sorry," Alisa apologised, "I didn't- thi"
"Yes," Rosie responded menacingly. She was used to agents being scared of her, she was Rosie Maria Virginia Stark, Death Adder, one of shields best agents.
"You didn't think. You didn't think of the consequences of following me on MY mission. The one FURY specifically sent me on instead of rest. FURY! Do you even know who he is you good for nothing level one little agent bitch?!" Rosie finished off, expecting the girl to break down crying, or at least accept defeat.
But no, this good for nothing level one little agent bitch, replied to her.
"I'm sorry. But FURY sent ME on this mission. Me, the good for some things, level nearly ten, admittedly little, agent." Rosie swallowed. She was level eleven. Only a little more than one higher. Oh sugar. That was pretty rude of her. Still, taking her mission away and everything... Rosie didn't need the responsibility of a younger agent, a liability to get her captured or injured.
"I'll talk to Hill-Coulson. Go back to the safe house. I'll sort something out about this." She shoved Alisa in the direction of the safe house but Alisa dug her heels deep in to the ground and refused to move.
"I'm not going back to safety while you're out here... Not in safety."
"Fine. I'll come back with you. Happy?" Rosie planned on leaving once the younger girl was asleep, to track the target back down and get him. They walked back in silence, with their guards up and walls around their minds.
Once they had returned, each of them breathed out a little. Rosie realised she didn't know the girls name, the one she was sure was Clint and Natasha's daughter.
"Hey, what's your name?" She called across the kitchen where the girl was looking away. Both of them were gagging when Rosie took her fangs out, she hadn't quite gotten the hang of it yet, so Alisa decided to look away.
Turning back, she replied, "Agent Romanoff. Yourself?" Alisa was oblivious to the sharp intake of breath Rosie gave when she said her surname. Rosie couldn't believe that her suspicions were correct. NATASHA HAD A DAUGHTER!?
"Rosie Maria Virginia Stark. But what's your real name?" Alisa was hesitant to open up, but given that she'd bumped in to 'Rosie' the day before, and that she knew about Fury and Hill-Coulson, she decided that this girl maybe trust worthy. Thinking about her name, this girl might be the famous Rosie Stark that word went around base about, how she had picked a fight with Sharon Carter one week, and the next. And the one after that.
"Alisa Barney Romanoff." Barney was Clint's older brother's name. That Rosie knew. Romanoff came from Natasha and Alisa sounded Russian. Natasha's eyes and Clint's hair, this was baby Barton.
"Alisa. That's pretty. Is it Russian?" Rosie asked, not expecting the answer she got.
"Да, или так мне сказали." 'Yes, or so I'm told.'
"Вы говорите по-русски тоже?" 'Do you speak Russian too?'
"Является то, что много не очевидно?" 'Is that much not obvious?' Rosie gave her a famous state of death. If looks could kill, this would be instant, or a slow gruesome, limb tearing off death, depending on which way you look at it.
"I'm calling Hill now." Hill-Coulson was a bit of a mouthful and since Rosie was a little tired, she abbreviated to Hill's maiden name. Alisa nodded and looked at Rosie expectantly.
"Just remember when you eaves drop, you might not always like what you hear." Rosie was deadly serious. She was a stone hearted cold bitch on missions and that wasn't going to change for the safety of the ears of one small girl. Hill picked up on the first ring, only it wasn't Hill.
"Agent Stark." The monotonous voice of the director said. It was a statement, not a greeting or question.
"What the fuck were you thinking Fury? Sending some little kid with me, especially when it's-" Rosie began to rant, not bothering about the girl that was listening, or the fact she had just sworn at her boss.
"I'm well aware of who she is." Fury didn't want her to say Clint. It had always been kept a secret, as Natasha had wanted, a secret Fury didn't want Rosie to break.
"Well why then?" The young woman demanded. If it was one thing Rosie prided herself on being, it was stubborn.
"You two need to learn how to work together." It was a lame, false excuse that even Fury could tell, but the real reason... He couldn't even think of telling Rosie that.
"Why?"
"Because. Deal with it Stark. Work together. Pass me to her." It wasn't a question, it was an order. Rosie did it silently, slightly confused. Why didn't Fury tell her beforehand? Because she would reject it. Stop him. Refuse. Rosie felt she was so predictable.
Alisa took the phone with slightly shaking hands, "Hello?"
"Romanoff. Has Stark tried to kill you yet?" Fury asked very seriously. Knowing Rosie, she probably had.
"Yeah. She had a knife to my throat. Then she looked in her eyes and stared. Her eyes weren't anything special, emerald green, fairly round, like her mother's. Her mother's.
"She knew your parents. You need to-"
"Wait a sec. ParentS?" She didn't know who her father was. Still. After all this time, all the badgering of agents, sifting through files. It always seemed like there was one missing, and there probably was.
"... You two need to work together." Fury avoided her question. That meant he knew. He knew and he wouldn't tell her.
"You know who my DAD is?" Alisa demanded, refusing to let it go.
"Alisa, now's not the time. Work together with Rosie." Fury hoped the use of her first name, and the mention of the older girl would get her away from the sensitive topic of her father. It was Natasha's wish, so it would be kept.
"Why. Why should I? You know I don't work well with people. Especially when they've just tried to kill me." She cast a side glance at Rosie as she said that. Rosie held her hands up, as if in surrender.
"Alisa..."
"Why?"
"Because Romanoff."
"Bene. Essere così. Sai una cosa? Forse lavorerò con lei. Forse no. Io deciderò. Direttore addio." 'Fine. Be like that. You know what? Maybe I will work with her. Maybe not. I'll decide. Goodbye director.' In the background, Rosie snickered. From her crash course of Italian she knew the gist of what Alisa had said.
"ROMANOFF!"
"Goodbye." The phone was roughly chucked at Rosie, as Alisa drew her knees to her chest, the legs providing protection from what she felt was the cruel world outside. Tears didn't fall, or wish to spill. The cold expression remained unchanged, as if no emotions were present.
"She's angry isn't she?" The Director asked Rosie after the phone had been thrown at her.
"Yep."
"Stark get her to cooperate with you. She hasn't had the best life, no neither have you, so you know what it feels like. She's alone. Help her. Work together." Rosie took this seriously, she couldn't remember a time he had been more serious. And the girl wasn't that bad, and she wouldn't want to dishonour Clint or Natasha...
"If we must sir."
"You must. I'll be seeing you both soon Agent Stark."
"Bye."
Rosie threw the phone in the air and sat in the chair next to Alisa. Looking at her, Rosie thought they both probably looked half dead. She put her arm around the younger girl, who flinched, thinking about what Fury had said about hard lives and awkwardly side one arm hugged her.
"Hey, looks like we're stuck with each other..." Rosie began, but it looked like it was going in one ear, and out the other. Rosie didn't know what to do.
"I think we should go to bed now." Rosie said, though again it seemed to wash over her. The strawberry blonde didn't know what to do. There was one thing left for her to try... "Эй, Алиса, ты в порядке не так ли? Мы должны идти в постель, есть много, чтобы сделать завтра. Хорошо? Мы можем говорить более завтра, пойти наверх, иди спать." (Hey, Alisa, you're ok right? We should go to bed now, got a lot to do tomorrow. Okay? We can talk more tomorrow, go upstairs, go to sleep.) And with that both girls began to move, got ready and went to bed with separate rooms, sleeping with guns under their pillows, knives on their bedside tables.