A/N Hey guys, I hope you all liked last chapter, where we finally got our verdict from the Council of assholes. This chapter isn't as much Clintasha because we need to get Natalia settled into SHIELD. Next chapter will have interactions between the two A LOT

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Enjoy!

After Coulson went and informed Natalia of the conditions of her recruitment, something in the way she carried herself changed. There was relief and a slight confidence, though that might've had something to do with the fact that SHIELD gave her a room for herself. It was recruit style, basic and plain, but it had a bed, a bathroom with a shower, a kitchenette, and a small two-person style dinner table. Not that she planned on having any guests for dinner.

The next stop on Phil's list was wherever Agent Barton was. The conditions of Natalia's recruitment affected him too, so he needed to know as soon as possible.

It was not unusual that Coulson eventually found Clint in the training room, beating away at a punching bag. Looking at his fists, Coulson noticed they were bright red. The archer must have forgotten to tape them. Again.

"I can feel you staring at me Coulson, and I might add, a little creepy" Clint joked, stopping and turning to face Phil.

"The Council has made their decision." Clint waited. His patience was something many people envy, but as a sniper, it's 100% necessary. "She's going to become an Agent hopefully. I believe she can, and wants to." Clint's face was a mixture of emotions, from happiness, to apprehension.

"Good, when will they let her out of the cell?"

"30 minutes ago actually, her SHIELD issued wardrobe and utilities will be delivered later on today."

"Well that was fast. I mean damn they put that on the top of their discussion agenda."

"Well they couldn't deny how much having her will help us. I think you made the right choice Clint, we'll know for sure in about a week after she completes Junior Agent training and testing"

"Thank you, Phil" And Phil knew the thank you wasn't just meant for telling Clint the outcome of the Council's decision, it was for everything Coulson has ever done, and everything he will do for his favorite Agent in the future. "I'll stop by and offer a spar tomorrow maybe."

"Sounds like a plan, just please be careful." Coulson knew how good she was, and he'd hoped she wouldn't hurt Barton on purpose, but accidents do happen. Coulson knew about accidents all too well. Coulson turned and left, heading back towards Natalia's room.

30 minutes ago…

After being shown her room and being told about the deliveries that would be dropped by later on that day, her handler told her to clean and rest up.

Natalia actually thanked him (a first for her) and closed the door. Just standing against the door, she could see every part of her room, yet it was the biggest room she'd ever lived in her whole life. It was guaranteed not to be bugged, watched, etc, and it was in the most basic sense of the word, safe.

Her bed was small and simple, yet as she went as sat on it, the mattress was the softest and thickest she's ever had. The tiny kitchenette is perfect with a sink, microwave, small burner oven, and even a coffee maker. The mini fridge was a bonus too. Walking into the bathroom, it was again, simple yet perfect. The shower was huge to her small figure, and there was a sink and medicine cabinet above it (stocked with a basic first aid kit, most likely after shorter, less harmful missions).

Natalia immediately stripped down and turned on the shower water. She expected it to be freezing, like she was used to in the Red Room, but it wasn't. It was hot water that came out of the spout and she could've cried just at that. But she didn't because one emotional meltdown was enough for this month, thank you.

She washed her hair with the supplies she found already under the sink, and stood in the shower for another 10 minutes, just enjoying the warmth, and also waiting for all the dirt left on her body that she didn't get earlier, was washed away.

She stepped out and wrapped herself in a towel, quickly drying off, and re-dressing into the sweat pants and t-shirt she was given when Natalia had first arrived here. She hated to admit it, but she was grateful. Grateful that the Council decided to give her a chance, that Coulson gave her a chance, and above all, that Agent Barton gave her a chance. She was grateful because he could've killed her, but he didn't. And she owed him for that.

Almost right after she was done getting dressed, her handler was back, after the hour he had given her to clean up and get ready for her medical exam and official paperwork. He looked up from his phone that was more like a small computer and greeted her.

"Feel better?" Gosh, she looked so much younger now. Natalia nodded and they headed off to a conference room to begin the part of the paperwork that didn't require the medical exam, because they couldn't get her in until tomorrow.

When they arrived, Coulson began

"Now, your current name is Natalia Romanov, but Director Fury has agreed with both the Council and me, that it would be recommended for you to change your name. It doesn't have to be major, just nothing the Russians can track you with."

"I can choose my own name?" She had never had a choice in anything regarding her in any way, shape, or form, and now that she did, Natalia wasn't so sure. "Are there any recommended suggestions?" She asked.

"The most highly recommended would be Natasha Romanoff. It's American sounding enough, yet not very far off from your original name. Obviously this name wouldn't be used on missions, but for your SHIELD credit card, bank account, computer account, etc, we need you to choose one."

"Natasha sounds fine."

"Alright, place of birth?"

"I'm not 100% sure, I believe it was somewhere outside of Moscow though."

"Can we take your measurements for your clothes that will be dropped off later?"

"Yes" She responded, and with a quick press of a button on his phone, a woman hurried in, took the measurements, and left after giving them to Agent Coulson.

"Ok, age is 16, correct?"

"Yes, but I will turn 17 tomorrow."

"Then I will put that down, as this paperwork will not be complete for a few days."

"Do you know how many people you have killed thus far by chance?" Her eyes flashed with remorse and regret, but almost as soon as it had come, it was gone again. She hadn't expected that question to come up. But she still knew. She had always known. She closed her eyes when she spoke in a haunted voice.

"473." Her voice cracked when she reached the three, but Phil pretended not to notice, and she was glad.

"Well this is currently all we can do until we have full medical and psychological evaluations." Natasha didn't look happy about the full evaluations, but she accepted it, and would cooperate. Because well, this place was treating her better than the Red Room did in 16 years.

Natasha left the conference room, leaving Coulson to do whatever handlers did when they weren't with their Agents. She easily found her way back to her room, entering the code into the keypad on her door. Natasha liked that form of lock because she could change it at any time to whatever she wished.

Not even 10 minutes later, a knock sounded on the door. Natasha checked the peephole for danger, and spotting several Junior Agents with her new things; she opened the door and took 2 of the boxes herself.

"The rest of them can go on the floor right here inside the door." She told them. One squeaked when he realized she was talking to him, another paled visibly. Jesus Christ, she was trying to be better here, and these incompetent fools can't even deliver four boxes? The Agents quickly left, and Natasha once again closed the door.

The largest of the four boxes was her new SHIELD issued clothes. Inside held several pairs of sweatpants and t-shirts, but it also had a brand new pair of combat boots, with a few types of socks to go with them. There was also a pair of tennis shoes, 4 new bras, about 12 pairs of underwear, standard white. There were shorts and tank tops, cargo pants, a jacket, and a few long sleeved shirts. The box also held 3 cat suits, 2 plain black, and 1 SHIELD style blue. Natasha pulled out the final item. One was a pair of blue jeans. Plain, simple jeans, yet Natasha had never been allowed to wear jeans before, and her eyes welled with simple joy.

She blinked away the tears and moved on to the two medium sized boxes. These held basic toiletries like toothbrushes and toothpaste, toilet paper and a few kitchen supplies. The final box was rather small compared to the first three, yet still large enough to catch her interest. Opening it up, Natasha found all of the weapons SHIELD had confiscated from her upon her arrival; including her special made Widow's Bite bracelets. Overall, she had 8 knives, 2 handguns, a mini handgun, her 'Bite's', and lastly there was an envelope. Looking inside, there was a driver's license for New York, a social security card, a birth certificate, a credit card, and her bank account information. There was also her shield identification badge and SHIELD issue cell phone.

Damn. She'd never had this much stuff to herself, ever. And so she cried, and cried, thanking whatever God existed out there for this chance to fix her screw ups. After composing her voice, she called the two pre-programmed numbers of her new team and only said 2 words before hanging up abruptly.

"Thank you". Both Barton and Coulson were surprised and confused by the sudden phone calls, yet they quickly realized who it was. This gave them hope that girl of only 16, could come out on top eventually.

That night…

After a 4 mile run on the indoor track, Natasha headed back to her room. Once she had showered and set her alarm for 5am, she crawled into bed under the warm covers, getting comfortable quickly. After 16 years of sleeping on a mattress 2 inches thick with hard springs, it didn't take long to get comfortable here. She felt safe that night, so she hoped the nightmares would stay away…

Boy was she wrong.

What do you think her nightmares are about? If you guess right in a review, I'll PM you

Please R&R! Thanks!