The door of Fury's office opened, and Clint all but ran into the room. Fury and Hill looked up from where they were sitting behind the desk.
"What did you find?" Clint demanded, sliding into a seat. "Did you find the base in Korocha? Do you know where she is, can we go get her?"
"Whoa, Barton, slow down," Fury said, as Clint panted for breath. "You know it's ten o' clock PM? I told you this meeting was a priority, not an emergency."
"Well, it's been three days," Clint breathed. "Time is of the essence at this point."
"Well, then," Fury said. "Yes, we've found something in Korocha, Belgorod that looks suspicious. Now we can't be sure, but there's a good chance this is it."
"We can't pinpoint the exact location, of course," Hill went on, as Clint's breathing finally returned to normal. "But we've gotten pretty close, within a three-mile radius. It should be enough to go on."
"Okay," Clint said. "When do I leave?"
Fury and Hill exchanged glances. "Agent Barton," Fury began. "Agent Hill and I feel that, in light of your injuries-"
"If you're about to say I can't go to Korocha, forget it," Clint said. "I'm gonna go."
"Clint," Hill said sternly. "Last week, you were shot in the leg. Both bones in your forearm are broken, and you were held in captivity for a week, during which time you were starved and abused. Don't you think it's a bit premature for you to conduct a rescue mission?"
"Well, I'm not limping anymore. And my leg barely hurts at all," Clint returned. "Besides, now that my arm is in a brace instead of a sling, I can use my bow again. I was practicing earlier today, and I can shoot with ninety-six percent accuracy. And, to be fair," he added, "that was a week and a half ago."
Fury glanced at Hill, who shrugged. Fury huffed in defeat.
"Alright, Agent Barton. Fine. You can go to Korocha," he said. "On one condition. This cannot be a solo mission."
Clint's face fell. He'd only ever had one-on-one missions with Natasha, and if she couldn't be with him, he wanted to be alone.
Fury seemed to sense his feelings. "I know it's hard, Barton," he said. "But you need someone to make up for that remaining four percent."
Clint nodded in resignation. "Who are you sending?"
"Well, you seem to work pretty well with Captain Rogers," Fury said.
Clint frowned. "But isn't he working on the Africa project with Stark and Banner?"
"Yes," Fury said cautiously. "But they'll be back from Ethiopia by tomorrow evening."
"Tomorrow evening?" Clint repeated incredulously. "Well, obviously, I can't wait for him, then. We'll have to go with someone else."
"How about Agent Carter?" Hill suggested. "She hasn't done field work for a while, but she's the one who located the base in Korocha. She knows a lot about the area."
"Perfect," Clint agreed, rising. "Tell her we leave in one hour." With that, he walked quickly out of the room.
olxlo
The black S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter hovered over the small town of Korocha, maintaining a substantial altitude to decrease the risk of being sighted. After leaving New York at eleven PM, they had taken the ten-hour flight to Korocha, so it should have been nine AM; but here in Russia, it was four PM.
Clint and Sharon looked out the helicopter's tinted windows and into the busy city below, taking advantage of the temporary bird's eye view to examine it.
"Looks pretty well-populated," Clint observed, glaring at the distant ground. "That's odd."
"Why is it odd?" Sharon queried, turning to look at the archer.
"Well, normally, resource bases tend to be in areas of lower population," Clint explained. "That lessens the chance of them being found by civilians."
"Makes sense," Sharon said, turning thoughtfully back to the window.
Clint said nothing. Even though he knew it wasn't fair, since Sharon's job centered more around intelligence management than attacking hostile resource plants, he couldn't help thinking that Natasha would have known why it was odd. Already, Clint had found himself comparing Sharon to Natasha multiple times, and he knew it was because he'd gone so many years with Natasha as his sole partner.
Clint pointed to a lengthy steppe that bordered the city. "Think I'm gonna put her down right there," he said. "You wanna do a pirep before we get off?"
Sharon hesitated, and Clint realized that she probably didn't have much experience with putting in pilot reports.
"Never mind, I can do it," Clint said, leaning forward to access the radio controls.
"Sierra Hotel India Echo Lima Delta, this is November three Victor niner zero niner checking in, how do you read?"
"Sierra reads loud and clear," came the response from the S.H.I.E.L.D. aviation department.
Sharon watched with interest.
"Niner zero niner checks five one north, three seven west at one six zero six. Leaving one thousand for zero. Do you copy, Sierra?"
"Copy that, niner zero niner."
"Niner zero niner, over and out."
"Sorry, Agent," Sharon said quietly when he finished. "I want to help, but I'm a little out of my league here."
"Don't worry about it," Clint said as he prepared to land.
olxlo
As they walked through the busy streets of Korocha, Clint murmured to Sharon, "We split here. We have to do a six-mile ground check, so it goes quicker if we separate. Comms stay on at all times, and report anything out of the ordinary."
"Like what, for example?" Sharon asked quickly.
"Like top-secret KGB resource bases," Clint answered before veering off to the left.
But as he walked quickly through the dingy streets, eyes and ears on high alert, Clint was forced to admit to himself that he had no idea what he was looking for, either. Resource bases were so easy to locate when they were out in the middle of nowhere, the only structure for miles. It was so unusual for one to be hidden right in the middle of a crowded suburb.
After nearly half an hour of traveling the town, examining every building, alley, and market for signs of the KGB, Clint contacted Sharon. "First mile accounted for, Agent Thirteen. Nothing to report."
"Likewise on this end," she replied. After a moment, she spoke again. "Scratch that. I may have just found something. Regroup on the south side of town."
Clint turned and headed quickly in her direction.
Several minutes later, he saw Sharon standing near two brick buildings. She beckoned to him and disappeared between the buildings. Clint hurried into the wide alley.
Sharon was standing at the back, examining a cement block that was covered with graffiti. "What is it?" Clint asked, coming to a stop beside her.
She looked at him. "I found this a few minutes ago. It might be a coincidence, but I thought you should see it."
Frowning, Clint turned to look at the wall. Then his eyes widened as they settled on a small shape that was concealed cleverly among the letters and symbols.
A black hourglass.
Eep! I love Sharon. Maybe it doesn't make a ton of sense why they picked her for the mission, but I just really wanted her in the story. Although I feel like I'm not doing her character justice... Anyhoo, hope you enjoyed the chapter!