Chapter Twenty-Nine
"Welcome back agent Coulson, agent Romanoff" Agent Hill greeted them as they exited the Quinjet.
"Thank you Hill, how's the fort?" Coulson answered as they all began to walk inside, Natasha walking behind them silently.
"Still standing" Hill replied.
"How did the visit go?"
"Well, for the most part, Romanoff completed all interrogations they set for her and managed to get three out of four council members on her side" Hill raised an eyebrow at that,
"Congratulations agent Romanoff" she said, turning her head around to see her new agent,
"Thank you Ma'am" Natasha responded quietly,
"Does Fury want a debriefing?" Hill smirked,
"You know the man Coulson, of course he does"
"Agent Coulson, Agent Romanoff, have a seat" Fury spoke the instant they stepped through the door. Handler and agent alike obeyed and sat in the offered seats.
"You did well according to my sources Agent Romanoff. Well done"
"Thank you sir"
"Any trouble?" Natasha shifted subtly,
"Romanoff was accused of murder" Coulson answered. An eyebrow raised was Fury's response,
"Oh? And how did that come about?"
"Suspect died after his interrogation sir" Natasha informed him,
"As you are here and not dead, I can come to the conclusion that you were not involved?"
"Yes sir"
"Good. Anything else I need to be informed about?"
"No Director" "No sir" came the responses, almost simultaneously.
"I want to see you both back here in three days. Romanoff, you will be sent on your first covert mission as a full Agent. Agent Barton will be your partner. Any questions?"
"No sir"
"Good. Dismissed." Coulson and Romanoff stood up, Romanoff offering a small bow before heading toward the door.
"Oh Romanoff?" Fury called, she turned to face him,
"There is no need to bow to every superior you see now; you are at SHIELD NOT the Red Room. Understood?"
Natasha gave him a small smile and nodded,
"Understood Sir"
Natasha wandered into the gym, wanting to blow off some steam. Every agent in the room stopped what they were doing and stared at her. She raised an eyebrow and glared at them, they all suddenly looked away. Natasha smirked as she went over to one of the punching bags in the corner and proceeded to punch the shit out of it.
"You're back" she turned round and came face to face with Barton
"Yes" she answered curtly
"How was it?"
"I survived." He grinned,
"Listen, I'm sorry about before. I was just following orders, didn't actually want to be horrible to you. I was wondering if we could give this friendship thing another go?" he rambled on. Once more she raised an eyebrow at him,
"I don't have friends, agent Barton." He opened his mouth, trying to come up with a response,
"Civility then? We do have to work together" she studied him,
"Very well." She smirked at him, "Want to spar?" Barton gulped, knowing exactly what she was capable of.
"Sure. Why not?" trying to sound happy about it but failing.
"Excellent, I promise to not go too hard on you" she informed him before turning round and walking to the mats. Barton trailed after her.
"Rules?" she asked as she got into position,
"Um no killing, maiming or paralyzing. Winner is the last one conscious or if the other surrenders." She nodded her agreement before attacking. She was blur as she slammed into his side with a kick, sending him flying across the room into the wall. Barton crumbled to ground, unconscious.
She straightened up and smirked at the watching agents,
"I win"
The agents took a step back, afraid.
"ROMANOFF!" she stiffened before slowing turning to face the voice. A large agent was standing there with an angry scowl on his face,
"You coward!" he screamed before charging at her, "You have no honor do you bitch?" throwing the first punch,
Natasha caught it before using his own momentum to throw him over her shoulder, hard onto the floor. Three other agents, friends of the attacker attacked her. Slamming her foot into one of their stomach's, she swiped the feet out from under another one before running towards the last one and catching her round the head with her legs as she flung the agent to the ground. The entire fight was over within a minute. She strolled over to the first attacker and pulled him to his feet, his arm twisted painfully behind his back. Natasha bent down so her head was by his ear,
"No one cares about honor in a fight in the real world" she snarled at him before shoving him away and striding towards where Barton was staggering to his feet, the other agents scrambling out of her way.
"You good Agent Barton?" he groaned and looked at her,
"I thought you were going to go easy on me?" he complained. She shrugged as she grabbed one of his arms and put it over her shoulder before leading him out of the gym and to the medical center,
"I did Agent Barton" he just groaned again,
"New rule. No more flying kicks" Natasha smirked,
"Agreed"
"What happened to him?" a doctor asked as soon as they entered
"He lost a fight with me" Natasha answered. The Doctor studied her before sighing,
"What did you do to him Agent Romanoff?"
"Kicked him into a wall" came the nonchalant reply. He rolled his eyes before shooing Natasha out,
"Try not to damage any more agents, agent Romanoff" she turned round at the door,
"No promises Doctor. Although you will have several other patients within the next five minutes" she informed him before disappearing from view. He sighed before turning back to his patient,
"Do you know what she's talking about?" Barton groaned,
"Don't know the cause but I know that several other agents were on the ground as we left the gym"
"And why did you challenge the Black Widow to a spar?"
"I didn't. She asked, I agreed" the doctor rolled his eyes,
"And that makes the situation any better because…?" Barton grinned at him,
"Because it is a start to making amends for the way I treated her on Hill's orders" the doctor just sighed,
"Well if that's her way of retribution then I will probably be seeing you a lot here in the future" Barton winced slightly at the thought before the grin was back,
"Let's be honest, I'm here frequently regardless"
"True but try not to make a habit of it" the doctor pleaded, Barton smirked,
"No promises" the doctor sighed,
"You two are going to send me to an early grave" Barton let out a laugh before groaning as his concussion once again made itself known,
"Right. lay down please Agent Barton, and don't even think about trying to leave otherwise I will get Agent Coulson in here to sit you on your ass permanently" the doctor threatened,
"No need to get Coulson doc, I won't be going anywhere" Barton reassured him.
Just then the other injured agents came tumbling in. Several other doctors and nurses from around the room converged onto them,
"That's Agent Romanoff's handy work I assume?" the doctor asked, Barton grinned manically,
"That it is" the doctor sighed,
"This is going to be a long day" Barton just cackled.
As soon as she had left the medical wing, Natasha strode back to the gym and proceeded to knock out every single agent that she challenged. She didn't care how many came at her at once, they were not a match for her. Coulson and Hill stood watching from the other side of the room as their agents were being pummeled into the ground.
"We're not going to have any agents left at this rate" Hill commented,
"She's just letting out a bit of aggression, nothing to worry about" Coulson responded. Hill raised an eyebrow,
"You do realize that now that you are her handler, you get to fill in the paperwork needed due to her." She paused, "That includes every trip an agent has to make to medical because of her" Just as another agent got foot-slammed into the wall, making them both wince.
"Good point" Coulson said before hurrying forward to stop the ever growing mountain of injuries,
"Agent Romanoff!" he shouted. Natasha finished taking down the agent in front of her before turning toward her new handler.
"Yes sir?" she asked, walking towards him.
"I think the other agents have had enough for the time being, don't you think?" Privately Natasha did not agree however she kept her opinion to herself and nodded head her,
"Of course sir" Hill smirked as she walked over, knowing exactly what her agent truly thought.
"Agent Romanoff" Hill greeted her,
"Ma'am" Natasha responded with a nod. "May I help you with anything?"
Hill shook her head,
"No agent, we just received a notice from medical about a sudden influx of injured agents, we traced the source back to here" Natasha had the decency to look slightly guilty.
"Be careful Agent Romanoff, otherwise you will have no sparring partners left"
"Yes Ma'am" she responded. Hill gave her a half smile,
"If you need a good sparring partner, may I suggest Coulson? He's very good" the smile turned into a wicked smirk. Hill may be a hardass but she had a sense of humor, a very dark sense of humor but a sense of humor all the same. Coulson gapped at her for a moment before turning to face his agent,
"Would you like to spar agent Romanoff?" not outwardly showing his distress. Natasha give him a small smile,
"Yes Sir" she answered, moving back towards the mats before sinking into position. Coulson gave Hill the evil eye before following. Inwardly Hill knew she would may for this, but for now she just enjoyed the moment.
"Rules?" she asked
"No killing or permanent injury. Winner is the last one standing or if one yields"
"Agreed" Natasha said before launching herself at her handler. The room was silent save from the combat taking place as every agent still there watched with wide eyes. Coulson managed to duck and avoid the first three punches but failed to notice the kick aim at his stomach. Natasha moved back as she surveyed him, he had good reflexes, she admitted to herself. Coulson straightened up before attacking back. Deftly, Natasha blocked or avoided them.
She had to admit that he was an excellent fighter, just sadly not up to her caliber. Natasha quickly moved in to finish, avoiding a powerful punch at her head, she caught him by the throat in one hand and caught the punch in the other before throwing him to the ground, his arm trapped behind him.
"Yield?" she asked coldly, her Black Widow persona in full swing. Coulson nodded,
"I yield" at once Natasha released him and helped him up.
"Good fight Agent Romanoff" he said, shaking her hand.
"Thank you Sir" Hill joined them,
"Well done Romanoff. Question: why don't you fight Barton, he's the only one close to your skill?" Natasha smirked at her,
"I already have"
"Oh, how was it?" she raised an eyebrow surveying the smirking agent,
"He lasted two seconds" Natasha answered.
"Really?" Hill asked, looking stunned. Natasha nodded,
"Romanoff, what did you do?" Coulson asked, looking slightly alarmed. Natasha gave him an innocent look,
"I only kicked him into a wall" the two high ranking agents looked at her in shock.
"New rule Agent Romanoff" Hill suddenly spoke, "No kicking agents into a wall without a valid reason."
"Yes Ma'am" she answered, slightly put out. Hill nodded,
"Good. I'll see you both in three days" before walking out.
"You worry me sometimes Romanoff" Coulson informed her.
"Then you worry too much Sir" she responded. He chuckled.
"I think I worry just the right amount Agent" she shrugged.
"Whatever you say Sir. Am I dismissed?"
"Yes."
"Very well sir. I'll see you later" Natasha gave him one more nod before walking over to the showers, leaving him staring after her.
A/N: hey guys. This chapter was quite easy to write therefore you get another quite soon after the last one. Thanks for all the fav, reviews and followers- guys are amazing.
I Particularly want to thank Taileah Golding for a particularly nice review.
See you guys later…
