Hi, another chapter. So as you read on the last chapter people noticed instantly the attraction between Clint and Natasha. We are going to have more of that before they finally realize their feelings. Meanwhile enjoy the next chapter. Now after some time SHIELD will start sending them to missions separated.
Some months later Clint was arriving from a mission in some part of Asia. After Budapest, SHIELD had the confidence of sending Natasha to work by her own. Every once in a while they were sent on missions together but only when it was a very important mission (like the one in Oymyakon) or it was too dangerous that they were the only ones who accepted it.
"Hey" Barton said entering to the base.
"Agent Barton, we'll take care of him," said another agent referring to the prisoner.
"Thank you" Barton said. Then he saw Coulson going with him.
"Barton, good you're here"
"Yes, I'll go take a shower and then start with the paperwork." Barton said half turning to go.
"Wait, Barton" Coulson said to stop him. "I don't want you to freak out but Natasha went on a mission to Iran and things went bad…"
"She's ok?" Barton asked trying to not getting too worried.
"Yeah, she's fine now. She received a shot but she was immediately taken to the OR" Coulson said. "She's recovering in Medical Care" Coulson said knowing he may want to see her.
"Alright, thank you Coulson" Coulson nodded and then left. Clint decided to go take the shower and then visit Natasha.
Half an hour later…
"Yes…yes I'm sure…Ivan I'm fine" Natasha was talking in Russian over the phone. As Fury promised, he called Ivan to tell him about Natasha when something like that happened. Clint entered silently to the room hearing that Natasha was talking. She was still on bed and when she saw Clint a smile showed up. They both waved. "Yeah, I'll take care. I'll see you soon. Bye" She said before hanging up.
"Hey" Clint standing in front of the bed.
"Hey"
"Ivan?"
"Yes, he wanted to come to see me, but I'm fine…I'll live"
"I'm glad…you know who shot you?"
"Yes…the Winter Soldier"
"Really? Well he has the enough guts to shot at you" Clint said.
"Yeah, what about you? When did you arrive?"
"A while ago, I need to write the report…when will you be discharge?"
"I don't know…but I'll call you"
"Great cause I want to see Slumdog Millionaire" He said getting out of Medical Care. Natasha just smile.
"Hi, how are you feeling?" Callie asked entering minutes later.
"I'm fine thank you" Natasha responded.
"You must be feeling lonely here"
"Not really, until now I've heard more rumors than any other time. It's amazing how much people talk here."
"I know" Callie said with a little laugh.
"And Clint came to see me a few minutes ago"
"I imagine that as soon as he returns he would come to see you"
"Yeah he did" Natasha said thoughtful.
A month after Natasha's incident it was already winter very close to Christmas.
"Hey, wow what is the special occasion?" Clint said making Natasha stopped. He noticed Natasha wearing a pretty elegant coctel dress.
"I'm going to the ballet with Anastasia. The Bolshoi is here."
"Ok"
"Yeah, we want to see how they perform our part without us" Natasha said remembering the first roll she had. She, Anastasia and another of her best friends in the company were the Russian dancers at the Nutcracker.
"Sure…well I'm going to see the team that will go with me to Spain."
"Alright I'll see you later." She said and then went to her car. Clint went to the base to do his work.
"Hey, what's up?" Mark said sitting next to Clint in one of the desks with computers.
"Hey, have you been in Seattle, it says that it is cloudy most of the time" Clint said looking at the computer.
"Yeah, you're going there?"
"Yes, I have to kill some criminal. I'm going there in a month." As it is expected Clit was one of the agents who received more missions like Spain and then Seattle. Sometimes the full agenda was taken in 6 months.
"Mmh…I saw Natasha, she looked great"
"Yeah, she was going to see a friend"
"A friend?" Mark said.
"Anastasia, what were you thinking?" Clint said.
"Nothing, I should have known it…"
"What?" Clint was confused.
"Well…I mean neither of you have been with someone in a relationship since you met each other"
"And?" Clint said.
"Come on, Clint…Whatever keep on your denial. I have to go. I have a date." Mark said exited leaving Clint alone.
Two months after Clint went to Spain and Seattle, he and Natasha were called.
"Hi, your mission" Coulson said with the files. "I'll explain you on the plane." They got in the plane.
"This is an undercover mission. You'll substitute a couple of assassins that were hired to kill someone by a drug dealer in Mexico"
"You want us to substitute assassins…that must be difficult" Clint said sarcastically.
"I'm not finished" Coulson said. "Anna and James Green" He said showing them the photos.
"They're brothers?" Natasha asked.
"They're married. They have been working together for several years." Coulson finished. That left the agents surprised; they will act as married people. "They came to Mexico for this special work."
"But…where are they then if we're going to be them…" Natasha asked.
"Don't worry, SHIELD already took care of that. Your boss would be Antonio Estrada, he is the leader of a criminal organization in the north of the country. The target has not been said, you'll found out and report it to SHIELD; then we'll considerate the options."
"They haven't met?" Clint asked.
"No, our intel said that they had communicated only by phone." Coulson explained the rest of the details.
They arrived to Monterrey, Mexico and went to their hotel room.
"Ah Mexico" Clint said entering the room.
"Yeah…we need to get ready" Natasha replied. As part of their stance in Mexico, Estrada had invited them to a party for their first meeting face to face.
"Yeah, we need to impress our boss" He said in a sarcastic and mocking way that made Natasha smile.
After a couple of hours, Clint was ready. He was wearing black pants with a black blazer and a white shirt.
"When will I ever get to see you wearing a tie?" Natasha said.
"Someday…you look great" He said. She was wearing a green coctel dress that made her eyes shine beautifully.
"Thanks" She said blushing a little. "Ready to be married?"
"Of course" He said. They took their car and arrived at the party.
"Ah, Mr. and Ms. Green." Estrada appeared to receive them talking in Spanish.
"Mr. Estrada, a pleasure to meet you, this is my wife Anna" Clint said shaking hands with Estrada.
"A real pleasure" He said looking to Natasha and shaking hands with her too. "Very well, we'll talk about business later. Meanwhile enjoy the party" He said raising his glass.
"That went well" Clint said.
"Yeah it's a start." They stayed at the bar for some time drinking and talking. At one time some music like cumbia and salsa started playing.
"Come on" Clint said getting up from his sit and offering his hand to Natasha.
"What! You actually know how to dance this music" Natasha said smiling and drinking.
"Are you kidding?" Clint said offended. "Unless you're the one who is bad at this." Clint teased her. "You must be a former ballet dancer but you know how to dance like normal people" He continued testing her.
"Alright then, I hope you're really good" She said leaving her drink and followed him to the dance floor. At first they tried to coordinate with one another, Natasha let Clint led their moves. They dance more than they imagine until they got tired and sat again.
"I'm impressed, who taught you?" Natasha asked.
"When I learn a language, I also like to learn about their culture." Clint answered. "How about you, don't tell me you learned that at the Royal Academy?"
"Actually they did. Every year we had two galas. One was a ballet gala and the other one was of another kind of dance from some country or region in the world. When I was I third grade they chose Latin dances"
"I would like to see that. I'm sure Ivan has the videotape."
"Not in this life, Barton"
"It's late, we should go" Clint said and they went to thank Estrada for the party. Estrada gave them the photo of the target. When they saw the photo automatically recognized the man. He was on the list of the most wanted in SHIELD and most of the world. He was accused of murder, rape, human traffic, etc. They took the photo keeping their covers. They returned to their hotel, they were walking thought the hall to their room.
"They're following us" Natasha said.
"I know" Clint responded, they reached their room. "Please don't punch me" He said before kissing her. He definitely caught her off guard; his right hand was in her hair and the other one on her cincture. She could have stopped him but realize that it was a good way to distract the men. That and the fact that it was probably the best kiss she ever had. She returned the kiss putting her hands on his face. When the men saw this they felt uncomfortable and decided to wait. Clint and Natasha noticed it. Clint then opened the door and they got into the room.
They make it sound like if they continued kissing and gasping for air.
"They're still there" Natasha said in Russian, not wanting to risk their covers speaking in English.
"Yeah and they have heat detectors." Clint said. "So what do we do?"
"We give them what they want" Natasha said dropping her purse.
"You ok with this?" Clint said hesitantly.
"Yeah, it won't be real. Relax" Natasha said. He understood and kissed her again more passionately. They reached the bed and continued. The men got the next room to keep an eye on them. They saw two figures on a bed doing what appeared to sex. On the other side of the room there were Clint and Natasha, they weren't really having sex, they were just acting.
"You think that's enough?" Clint asked.
"I think we had gave them enough for tonight. Let's sleep" Natasha said. Clint rolled since he was on top of Natasha. She turned to face the lamp and they both slept.
The next morning Natasha woke up first. She wanted to get up but couldn't move. She noticed a pair of arms around her.
"Clint...Clint" Natasha tried to wake him.
"Hmm..." Clint was still asleep.
"You gotta let me go"
"Oh...sorry" Clint jumped leaving her.
"It's fine" Natasha murmured and smiled. She was facing the wall so Clint only saw her back.
"So, what do you think?" Clint asked her.
"I don't know but I want to know why he wants him dead" Natasha answered from the bathroom. The men from last night left after a few hours so they could speak freely.
After some time, they contacted Fury. They used the camera so they could see each other.
"Agents, good morning" Fury said. "I suppose you have information"
"Sir, the man Estrada wants us to kill is George Miller" Natasha said. Fury reacted immediately.
"Miller? Did he tell you why?" Fury said surprised
"No, but it's not hard to believe. The guy is in everything."
"What do you want us to do, sir?" Natasha asked.
"The Council needs to intervene…I'll have to call them." Fury answered. They didn't like their answer but they knew he was right. After a few minutes the Council was also included in the conversation.
"Agent Barton and Romanoff, what a surprise to see you involve in this" One of the members said looking serious.
"Good morning" Barton said trying to ignore his comment.
"So, Fury told us that your undercover mission consists on killing Miller" Another member said.
"Yes it is" Barton answered.
"Have you seen him?"
"No, but Estrada is very sure he is in Monterrey now." Natasha said.
"So you aren't sure he's in Mexico, you haven't seen him…" Another member started to pissed off the agents.
"If he's here, we'll find him." Barton interrupted him.
"We just need to know if you want him dead or alive" Natasha said.
The Council was not happy with them. Even though they had to admit they were the best agents SHIELD had, they were always looking for an excuse to stop them.
"Alright, Fury." A member called him. "You supervise this operation. You, agents will find out what he was doing there and as much information as possible. Then we'll talk about killing him" Clint and Natasha nodded and the Council was out.
"Please try not to break many protocols. Don't do anything stupid, they already hate you enough" Fury said. He knew that the Council didn't want them in SHIELD and he always defended them.
"We'll try, thank you sir" Clint said before ending the conversation. He closed the computer.
A few hours had passed. They started to track him with the help of the computer. Then they went to the streets see if they had luck talking with the guys at the hotel where he was supposed to be found. Of course all this information came from their secret sources.
"Alright so it may be him" Clint said getting in the car where Natasha was waiting. "The receptionist described him."
"Ok, so all we have to do is have a recognition and we will kill him" Natasha said.
"We need a distraction that keeps him in the hotel" Clint said looking at Natasha who was reading his mind. She hated this part of the job sometimes.
Later at night they were ready. They had already sent all the information they could get. Turns out that Estrada wanted him dead because of a betrayal involving a woman.
"In position" Natasha said through the ear piece to Barton who was also connected to the Council and Fury.
"Are we sure that's Miller" asked one of the Council members.
"Agent Romanoff confirmed it. She saw him in the lobby and followed him to his room." Fury said. Romanoff was acting like any girl, she talked a little with him.
"Agent Barton has a visual on the target?" The Council asked.
"Yes sir, I'm ready, waiting for you sign." Barton answered. He was at the building next door.
"It's him, we need to do something." Fury talked to the Council.
"What if we bring him to interrogation?"
"And blew up their covers. If Estrada knows who they really are he could kill them" Fury said.
The Council members looked at each other. "Ok, agent Barton you have permission to shoot." Said the female member of the Council.
"Wait!" Natasha said just before Barton shoot. This time he was using a normal sniper gun.
"What's wrong?" Barton said.
"Someone is knocking the door…oh my God!" Natasha said very surprised but murmuring everything.
"What? Who is it?" Barton asked.
"That's Ellen Howard"
"Howard? The ex-wife of William Howard, the diplomatic?" Barton said.
"Yes, she's getting in" Natasha said.
"Are you sure?" Fury said.
"Yes!" Natasha said it louder.
"What do we do?" Clint asked.
"Don't shoot…we can't risk her" Fury said.
"She's his lover!" Natasha pointed out.
"Yes, but she's still a public person. The Council wants to wait." Fury said. Not only was Howard the ex-wife of an important diplomat, but a important figure for the charity.
They waited a few minutes. The Council was now looking through the camera that the gun of Clint had. They all were watching the whole scene. They were waiting for a moment when they get separated so Clint would be able to shoot him.
"Alright, she getting into the bathroom" Barton said.
"Take it!" Fury said. "You have permission to shoot" The Council said.
Barton shoot, it was a perfect shot. Miller fell to the grown. Natasha entered the room with her gun. Howard got out of the bathroom terrified.
"This is SHIELD, don't move!" Natasha said. "We gotta go, Estrada men will be here soon." Natasha said to everyone. Clint had called Estrada to inform him that the job was done. Estrada was satisfied and paid them. They arrested Howard and took her to US.
"This is insane, do you know who I am?" She said angry at the interrogatory room.
"Oh we know who you are, believe me. That's why you're here. You could be dead like your lover." Barton said sitting in front of her.
"You're the one who shot him?" She asked.
"Indeed" Barton said. "So tell me Ms. Howard, how does a respectable lady like you becomes the lover of one of the most wanted criminals in the world." Barton waited for her to talk but got nothing. "Ms. Howard, if you don't cooperate we'll have to arrest you and with or without your help we'll find out the truth."
"Ask my ex-husband"
"What about him? Was he involved?"
"Of course he was, he knows everything. If I'm going to fall, he comes with me" She said.
"Alright." Barton said getting out of the room. After some hours, they discover that the ex-couple were involved in drug traffic even before he was diplomatic and that was how he got his position. He along with his ex-wife was publicly arrested and was all over the news.
This is it, thank you for reading. I would love your comments about it.