Chapter: 10
It was just Clint's luck that they ended up being called in to the director's office the next day before he could think of something to say to his partner. By the time he had dragged himself out of bed and into the conference room she was already siting at the table across from Hill, Fury, and Coulson. The evidence of sleep deprivation that he had noticed the night before was gone from her and she looked her usual blank faced self.
"Romanoff," he said in greeting as he pulled the chair beside of her out and took a seat himself.
"Barton," she replied in return.
"Good morning agents." Fury said after he had gotten settled into his seat. The two of them repeated the greeting in kind and their boss gave a nod before continuing on. "Let's get started. This is Andre Paquet he has recently gotten hold of a flash drive containing some delicate information."
"I assume its need to know," Barton interrupted as Hill passed him and Natasha their files.
"You assume correctly," Fury said "the flash drive was taken from one of our agents who has since been missing and assumed KIA. Your job is to get to Paris and take it back."
"So another test mission?" Clint asked as he scanned through the pages.
"The last one didn't exactly go as smoothly as we hoped. Still, this is slightly more important," Fury said "just slightly."
"Do we know where Paquet is staying?" Romanoff spoke up and Fury turned his attention to her.
"We don't. However, it just so happens that his brother is a well-known business man who has recently gotten a promotion. In typical rich guy fashion Paquet is throwing some huge extravagant party in congratulations. "
"And there's gonna be two not so invited people that just so happen to show up there." Clint finished for his boss and was given a nod in response. Fury turned his attention back to Natasha then.
"Paquet is also a known playboy of sorts." He said and that was all that needed to be said on the matter really but Fury continued. "Catch his attention and try to get him to tell you where it is. If that doesn't work then at least get him alone and incapacitated so that he can be brought in for questioning." She nodded in return and Fury switched back to Barton. "You are the backup, make sure that nothing happens that shouldn't happen." Clint nodded his understanding but found himself really not liking the idea of Natasha having to seduce the guy. He sighed and figured that he better get used to it. She was the best at what she did.
"There is a catch though," Coulson said "you won't be on the list this time."
"Should be fun," Clint muttered under his breath.
"And the security will be tight." His handler added and Clint rolled his eyes.
"Of course it will be. Julian Pierre?" He said looking down at his new ID. He glanced over at Romanoff.
"Anne Monette," she replied without him asking and he nodded.
"I like that one actually," he said and she shrugged.
"They don't come with back stories to give you some leniency…"
"To see if we can think on our feet together." Clint corrected Fury who shot him a look but didn't deny it.
"Are there any questions agents?" He asked and the two of them responded in negative. "You leave in twenty minutes, good luck agents you are dismissed."
"Yes sir," the two agents responded then got to their feet.
"And Agent Romanoff," Fury called and she stopped and turned back around to him.
"Yes sir?"
"The comm stays with you and on the entire time."
"Yes sir."
"Dismissed." She nodded and was out the door a moment later. Coulson was the next to head out leaving the director and Hill alone together.
Fury could tell that she wanted to say something. He could feel it in the silence that was surrounding them that there was something bothering her and she was trying to remember her place and not speak out of turn. A part of him didn't feel like having the conversation he guessed was about to happen. He did value her opinion as his second in command though. "You know that you are free to speak freely agent Hill."
"Do you think that it's a good idea to send them on another mission so soon?" She asked, forgetting about the papers she had been gathering up as a distraction.
"The Council wants to see them work together."
"Romanoff hasn't had any real sleep in a week now. Maybe an hour or two a night."
"Are you spying on agent Romanoff?"
"The opposite actually," She replied.
"Is agent Barton still spying on Romanoff?"
"They got into an altercation last night. You know about Romanoff."
"That she was trying to seduce a random man in a bar?" Fury sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Yes, I heard."
"Barton's right, she can't keep doing things like that."
"Not too long ago you were completely against the idea of her coming on board in the first place." He said and arched an eyebrow at the woman.
"I, I had my reserves." She replied "still do, but Coulson seems to trust that she's ok. I trust his judgment."
"Hmm," was all the response he gave.
"It doesn't matter if the two of them can't learn to work together. They might get the missions done but will that be enough?"
"I don't think so. Romanoff is going to have to make some connections here."
"That's going to take more time then what we have and I think that, with what happened last night, they've done nothing but push each other further away."
"She still has us and Coulson."
"Coulson doesn't know." She replied and sent her boss a look.
"Coulson doesn't know what?" The man in question appeared back at the doorway and if it were any other situation he would have found the slight widening of Hill's eyes funny. However, he had just been handed the proof of his suspicions and he wanted answers. He looked back and forth between the two of them and crossed his arms over his chest. "So who's going to start?"
By the time they landed in Paris and got to the hotel the sun was starting to set. The sky above the city was lit up with colors. Natasha sat at the window seat in the room that she would be sharing with her partner for the next two days. It was a rare time when she found herself with nothing to do but seeing as how she was on a mission she couldn't exactly go down to the local gym to work out and there wasn't one in the hotel. It was less than twenty minutes from dinner time so she had decided to just sit around for a moment. Barton had offered to go out and find some food which she had agreed to on the bases that she figured he'd be back around the right time and she had wanted the time alone anyways.
The time spent in the jet was filled with an awkward silence. She could tell that he was wanting to say something to her but either couldn't think of the right thing or just wanted to avoid speaking altogether. She thought that maybe he was angry at her. The idea of which shouldn't bother her but it did, deep down it did no matter how much she tried to deny it. There was something about the stupid archer that was different than the other people who had come and gone in her life. It wasn't just the fact that he had spared her life, though that did play a major role, it was the fact that he just kept trying to help even though she had been difficult with him.
She wasn't stupid. She knew the signs of PTSD, she got that the things she did was a continuation of what she had been forced to do in the Red Room. She understood it but try as she might there was no way that she could go against it. Natasha knew that she had to somehow break herself free of it but the problem was that she didn't know how, and she didn't know how to let him help her. Worst of all was the nightmares. They had kept her awake almost every night but she couldn't shut them out. She had never had to deal with them before that she could remember and therefore was not trained in how to deal with them. She wondered why they were suddenly a problem. She thought about what had happened last night. She thought about Barton's question and why she had gone through with letting that man touch her. Something came to her then and try as she might she couldn't avoid it and really she was too tired to really fight it.
"Romanova," Volkov's hand tightened its grip on her chin as he forced her to look up at him. "Surely by now you realize that my lessons are not voluntary. I teach you to seduce, I teach you to get everything you want by using nothing but your body." He released her and she stumbled back a bit. "Ivan is not happy that you did not do what was ordered of you. He told you to sleep with the target and keep the killing fast and quiet."
"Yes sir."
"And instead you refused. You tortured him for the information and he died before telling you everything and someone heard the screams." He said "it was a stupid move girl." Natalia remained quiet as Volkov began to circle around her. "Then you want to dig the hole deeper by fighting me after Ivan has ordered that I remind you of your lessons." He stopped in front of her and put his hands behind his back. "He is really unhappy after that talk Talia. He's ordered a new punishment. For the next week you are only permitted to leave this room when I allow it. A week with just me and you, with no limitations." That made her skin pale. Volkov already had less limitations than any of the other instructors and his lessons in the art of seduction and sex were already one of the least pleasant experiences. With those few limitations gone…. "We're gonna have fun little one." He said before she could finish that thought and a shiver ran down her spine when he touched her.
"I'm back," Barton's voice broke her from her trance and she pushed the images away to deal with later. He closed the door with his foot and sat down two brown bags at the small table in the corner. "Ready to eat?" She glanced up at the clock, five more minutes to go. "No Romanoff," he said and her eyes shot back to him. "I asked if you were ready to eat, not if the clock said you were." That caught her off guard. She knew that he had figured out her problem but she hadn't expected him to just call her out on it.
She didn't like to be caught off guard. Four minutes to go. She didn't want to admit defeat but she also felt her nerves actually getting shaky on the inside. It's only four minutes for crying out loud, she thought in her head but still found herself dragging her feet to the sink to wash her hands, something she didn't regularly do before eating. Three minutes. Barton shook his head and sighed before sitting down and beginning to take the food out of the bag. She slowly made her way to the bathroom in search of a hand towel to dry her hands off. She lingered more than she needed to. One minute. She turned the light off and closed the door to the bathroom. Barton glanced over at her and she locked eyes with him. It was like he could see through her and she didn't like it. She noted that he hadn't gotten any drinks to go with the meal and so that gave her an excuse to grab one of the paper cups and fill it with some water from the sink. Finally it was time and she took a seat in front of him and began to take out her own food. Barton didn't comment or look at her again.