Author: Hope everyone had a good holiday. Spent mine with family, the gals of RWBY and the Winchester boys. Adorableness from Coulson and some cuteness between Nat and Rain.
Steve glanced over as Coulson joined him.
"How's Agent Rain?" He asked.
"Sleeping. We had one of the doctors sedate her." Coulson said.
"Sleeping problems?" Steve inquired.
"Insomnia." Coulson admitted.
"I didn't notice at the Retreat." Steve muttered.
"She's very good at hiding it. I didn't know for a few years." Coulson smirked.
Steve nodded and glanced around at the agents working on deck. "How long has she been an agent?" He asked.
"She joined as a trainee in 2005 and made full agent by early 2006. She's a bit of prodigy." Coulson chuckled.
"She seems young." Steve commented.
Coulson made a noncommittal noise. Rain's young age and lack of previous training was a sore spot with some of the agents.
Steve read the sound for what it was and let the subject drop.
"Agent Romanoff mentioned they made trading cards." he said after a minute.
Coulson turned a light shade of red and suddenly became very interested in the sky. "I... collected them. As a kid I was a fan. And still am." he admitted.
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"Agent Romanoff. What can I do for you?"
Natasha looked past the doctor and whispered, "I'm here to sit with her."
"Of course. Agent Coulson said you might be stopping by." the doctor said gently.
Natasha nodded and sat down in the chair beside the bed where Rain was sleeping.
"You look so peaceful Milaya." she whispered, stroking Rain's hair out of her face.
"Don't wake her please. Coulson said she needs the rest." the doctor called softly.
Natasha didn't answer the doctor but instead kissed Rain's cheek before settling back in the chair.
The only time she ever watched Rain sleep at home without crawling into bed with her was when her beloved was sick.
That happened very rarely and it was even more rare that she herself came down with something.
"We'll find your father Milaya. And you can have your revenge on whoever took him." She swore softly.
Clint and Rain were two of a small amount of people who made her feel like Krasnaya Komnata was actually in her past and not just lurking in the shadows of her mind.
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"I mean.. if it's not too much trouble." Coulson said, glancing up Steve. It had taken him a full day to get up the courage to ask his idol to sign his collection of trading cards.
When Rain found out later, she'd give him hell over taking so long.
"No... it's fine." Steve assured him, glancing around at the bridge. He enjoyed knowing how the flight crew operated.. it might come in handy someday.
"It's a vintage set. Took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint. Some slight foxing around the edges, but..." Coulson rambled.
"We got a hit!" Jasper Sitwell shouted.
Fury had put him in charge of the search for gamma radiation, based off the search procedures Banner had designed.
"Sixty seven percent match. Wait... cross match... seventy nine percent." Jasper told them.
Steve was impressed at how decisive the results were. Either this Loki character was there or someone else had the Tesseract there.
"Location?" Coulson asked.
"Stuttgart, Germany. 28 Königstrasse. He's not exactly hiding." Sitwell told him.
Steve looked at the map that appeared on a nearby monitor. It was a museum of some sort in a large open plaza.
He narrowed his eyes at the number of civilians that could get caught in the crossfire.
The mission would be tricky... but they had to bring this guy in.
"Captain. You're up." Fury told him, glancing at Coulson, who nodded.
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Natasha fished her phone out of her jacket and flipped it open. "Romanoff." She whispered.
"We've got a match on the Tesseract." Coulson told her.
"Location?" She asked.
"Stuttgart, Germany. We're sending Captain Rogers on. Fury wants you there." He said.
"When are we leaving?" Natasha inquired.
"Ten minutes. Be at the doors to the flight deck." Coulson said, before hanging up.
Natasha leaned forward and kissed Rain's cheek gently. "Sleep well Milaya. I'll see you when I get back." She whispered.