I played with the hem of the dress I was wearing, tugging the short material down as if it'd make the dress longer on me.
"Stop it," Natasha slapped my hands away. "You look hot. Tonight will be fun so stop fussing with your dress."
I swear the backless midnight blue dress hadn't been this short when I tried it on. Though it could have been the 3 inch knee high boots I was wearing to make it even shorter. I sighed and cocked my head, studying myself in the mirror. Natasha was behind me curling her hair. She was also very conveniently blocking the door to my room. Not that it would have done me any good. Jared was sitting in the lounge room waiting for us to finish getting ready. If I tried to make my escape he'd stop me and throw me back into my room and not let me out until I was decent enough to come out.
I shouldn't be such a stick in the mud about this. It was for Clint's 30th birthday after all. We had a small private dinner last night with our little family. Whatever Laura and Clint fought about while I was sick seemed to be pushed from memory. But with it being Saturday night it was time for the wild celebration. With most of the STRIKE force. Apparently turning 30 was a big deal and needed to be celebrated with copious amount of alcohol. I tried to make every excuse to not come, but the 3 of them weren't hearing any of my excuses. Clint whined that it was his birthday and I couldn't miss it. Natasha told me I needed to get out and get drunk. Jared was just looking for an excuse to go out partying so told me to stop being a pain in the ass and come along.
"Your hair looks good," Natasha prodded trying to get a conversation out of me. I hadn't exactly been talkative all day. I was torn between being a little shitty about being pushed to go out tonight when I really didn't want to. There was also a minor feeling of excitement about doing something else besides work and sleep. I had gotten a haircut this morning. It brought my hair back up to my shoulders and with a few messy layers cut through it, giving me a small but nice change. It was still straightened from the hairdresser, falling in soft frames around my face.
"It feels nice to have something done with it," I smiled despite my mood of not wanting to go out. Along with the hairdresser I'd finally caught up on all the little things, like waxing, that I'd neglected over the last 2 months. It was a good thing I was a natural blonde and you couldn't really see my body hair. It had gotten a little bit out of control.
"Hurry up," Jared's voice called from the lounge room. "It's going to be happy hour in 20 minutes."
"I feel like I'm going to regret this night deeply," I groaned. I gave myself one last look in the mirror and decided this was as good as it was going to get. It's not like I was planning on going to pick up. I would have worn jeans if it wasn't for Natasha dressing me. She was so damn bossy when she wanted to be.
"Quite possibly," Natasha's smirk was terrifying. "But when was the last time any of us went out?"
Good point Natasha. It'd been a while. Sure we went out for dinner and shopping. But I couldn't actually remember the last time we'd all been out to party with the intention of getting drunk. Tomorrow was going to hurt.
"I can't remember," I replied honestly.
"Which is why we're going to go out and have a good time," Natasha snuck a quick, but firm smile at me.
"No one is going to be having a good time unless you two hurry the fuck up," it was Clint calling out this time. He must have gotten here a few minutes ago. He hadn't been here when I last stuck my head out the door.
Natasha rolled her eyes and did a final twist with my GHD. Her hair was getting really long, nearly halfway down her back now. When she teased it into wild curls it looked amazing. Who was I kidding. Natasha looked amazing all of the time. She'd be the centre of attention tonight.
"Lets go," Natasha turned the GHD off and grabbed her purse. I snatched mine up too. Not that I needed much beyond my phone and ID. But it was a nice purse that matched my boots well. As soon as my bedroom door opened Jared and Clint jumped to their feet, obvious relief written all over their faces. Clint's eyebrows raised at seeing how we were both dressed.
"Could you have picked a shorter dress Kari?" Jared teased me a heartbeat later.
My shred of self confidence shattered all over the floor right there and then. I hadn't put more than 2 pounds on since I'd been sick. My body was doing the annoying thing between looking half muscled or just plain skinny. I'd thrown the dress back in the cupboard when looking for something to wear tonight. But Natasha insisted that I had to wear it and nothing else would do.
"You look great Kari," Clint smacked Jared over the back of the head. Jared winced and rubbed where Clint had just smacked him. "I noticed you didn't pick on the cleavage Nat has going on."
The figure hugging red dress Natasha had on left very little to the imagination with her cleavage. It dipped in all the perfect places making her look irresistible. At Clint's admonishment Jared looked a little embarrassed. He'd been a surly pain in the ass ever since he'd gotten home from his last mission a week ago. When I asked him about it he got very snappy so I just left it alone. Even Natasha had commented on how much of an ass he was being.
Jared grunted in response, still rubbing his head. Clint's phone chimed as a message came through. He twisted his head looking at it on the coffee table.
"Taxi's here, lets go."
We headed to a place called Ultrabar. It was a nightclub built in an old bank. 5 floors of music so there should be plenty of action. We hadn't booked a table giving us the freedom to up and leave if things got too boring. But with most of the STRIKE force heading out, it wasn't going to be a dull night.
It was packed, despite the early hour. I hung onto the back of Clint's shirt so I didn't get lost in the crowd. We got drinks on the first floor before making our way up onto the third floor. Jared promptly headed to the bar there and came back with 4 shots in test tubes. I eyed off the bright blue liquid very suspiciously.
"Happy birthday Barton!" Jared yelled over the noise of the music and crowd.
We all clinked the tubes together and threw them back. Whatever it was went down a little too easily. The mixture of fruity with a touch of sour was good. Really good. Clint pulled a disgusted face as the taste of his, quickly chasing it down with his scotch.
"I need another one of these," I held up my now empty tube.
"Same," Natasha hooked her arm through mine. "Maybe I'll flash some more cleavage and we won't have to pay for them."
I groaned but let myself be taken along with Natasha. If anyone could get away with not paying for drinks the entire night, it was her. Then again, Jared was right in that my dress was really short. I was getting a few looks thrown my way. Maybe if I built up a bit of confidence I might be able to get someone to pay for my drinks too. We made it to the bar without too much hassle. Rumlow was standing there with some of his team ordering drinks. Natasha didn't waste anytime going straight for him.
"Hi," Natasha slipped an arm around his waist with a seductive smile. "Want to get us another one of these?"
Natasha held up the empty test tube. Instead of looking charmed Rumlow just looked pained.
"And whatever the girls are drinking," Rumlow said after a beat to the bartender who was pouring drinks. "Better give me one too otherwise they won't leave me alone."
"Good boy," Natasha purred at him.
Rumlow rolled his eyes at Natasha. He turned to say something to me, but did a double take with a look of complete surprise on his face. He couldn't seem to drag his eyes away from my legs. His stare was a lot longer than what would be considered polite.
"Nice boots," Rumlow chuckled dragging his eyes away from my legs and back up to my face. "I don't think I've ever seen you out of workout clothes or jeans."
The bartender finished the massive amount of drinks Rumlow had been ordering. Natasha and I threw down our shots instantly. Rumlow eyed his off before having his. He pulled a disgusted face, just like Clint had done.
"God what is that?" Rumlow shook his head. He quickly downed a long swallow of beer. "Ugh you two have girly taste."
"I know you fail to notice, but we are girls," I said dryly. I licked the rim of the shot glass enjoying the taste.
"With those dresses, nope you really can't fail to notice," Rumlow's eyes seemed to have locked onto Natasha's cleavage now. "Want another one of your girly shots?"
"Of course," Natasha snorted. "Why are you being so nice?"
"I want front row seats to see what happens when the first guy grabs either one of your ass," Rumlow motioned to the bartender again. "Give them another 2 of the toxic blue things."
I took a sip of my scotch while the bartender poured our shots. I cringed as I saw a small bit of it was tequila. So much for my tequila ban. At least it wasn't too much in it. This wasn't going to end well. But I took the offered shot and downed it. My head was already starting to spin. Tonight was going to end messily.
"Hey there's Bravo team" Natasha grabbed my arm and started to pull me away. She shot a terrifying smile over her shoulder. "I'm going to flirt with Sam and enjoy all the shades of red he goes."
Messy might be a slight understatement. But, I let myself be dragged along by Natasha. I openly enjoyed her teasing and flirting with Sam. It made things almost feel normal again. Almost. The look on Sam's face was absolutely priceless as we both walked up to the group of guys. It wasn't hard at all to get another 2 shots paid for out of them. Sam wasn't the only one who couldn't keep their eyes off Natasha. After a few shots I began to question my own sexuality by staring a bit longer than necessary.
Natasha and I bounced from group to group throughout the night. I hadn't paid for a drink the entire night. I had backed off the shots and stuck to scotch after Sam had brought us one. I was already light headed and most definitely feeling the effects of the shots. Clint was the worst of us though. Being the birthday boy meant a lot of drinks being brought for him. Clint was downing each one of them quickly as well. He was getting very drunk. I could see him have to be carried out of the club by the end of the night if he kept this pace up. Not that he would be the only one. A lot of the guys were very drunk.
It was a little after midnight when I realised I'd barely seen Jared for the last few hours. I'd catch glimpses of him near Clint occasionally but he was mostly absent. In my mostly drunken state I decided to find him once I'd finished my scotch. I found him on the ground floor, which was the quietest, in the corner frowning at his phone.
"You're missing the party," I was a bit slurry as I announced my presence. Jared grunted but didn't look up from his phone. A heavy scowl marred his handsome face. It only softened slightly when I slipped my arm around his waist and gave him an awkward hug.
"Sorry," Jared held up the phone. "Work."
"Its Saturday night and Barton's birthday," I pouted at Jared. I unwrapped myself from him and gave his arm an impatient tug. "Stop being boring. Being the boring one is my job, come and drink with us."
Jared laughed while shaking his head at me. He pulled his arm away from my grip and gave me an apologetic smile. Even in my drunken state I could see how tight his expression really was. Something was bothering him.
"5 minutes, I promise."
"Please?" I drew out the word over a few syllables and pouted again. "I'm empty."
I held up my empty glass just for show. If nothing else I wanted Jared to have a little more of a genuine smile on his face. He really had been a grouch since he came home. I'd hoped tonight might have cheered him up from whatever was bugging him.
"Then go and use your very attractive face and body to get a refill," Jared chuckled. "Or go kiss Natasha and she might even buy you a drink."
Jared's phone started vibrating in his hand. Swearing in a language I didn't know, Jared pushed himself away from the wall, rapidly walking away. I didn't need to be told I wasn't going to be welcome in listening to whatever that phone call was. I just pouted at his fast retreating back and turned on my heel. At least Jared couldn't call me a stick in the mud now.
I made my way back up the stairs and to where I'd seen Natasha last. As soon as my boot hit the top step, I had an armful of redhead and hard muscles slam into me. I nearly toppled back down the stairs as Natasha clung to me.
"Hi honey, so glad you're here," Natasha's smile lit up her entire face. The mischievous sparkle in her eye made my stomach churn with sudden nerves. If I was sober I might have been able to work out what was going on. But I was definitely not sober. Natasha grabbed the front of my dress and yanked me down to her height, pressing her lips against mine.
I froze at the casual light kiss. Natasha lingered long enough that I could taste the shots we'd been drinking on her. But not too long that it'd look really inappropriate. It took me a few seconds of blinking stupidly before I came back to my senses.
"Come on, you need to catch up," Natasha pulled away and slung her arm through mine. She snuggled in close to me like she hadn't seen me in weeks. "Its been a long night without you."
Natasha pulled me back to the bar, not before she sent an apologetic smile to someone over her shoulder. But as soon as she was facing me again, she rolled her eyes and pulled a bored expression.
"Bunch of idiots trying to get in my pants over there," Natasha barely inclined her head to the left of her. "Told her my girlfriend was coming and she was a jealous type who could kick their ass. I didn't want to be the one getting arrested tonight and ruining Clint's birthday."
I burst into hysterical giggles at Natasha's explanation. Of all the things to come out of her mouth, I wasn't expecting something like that. But at least we were good enough friends that I really didn't mind playing her lesbian lover. I'm sure a lot of people assumed it when we were out in public anyway. It was nothing for us to be walking arm in arm down the street.
When we got back to where Clint was sitting, there were a lot of eyes on us. As I sat on the chair, Natasha crawling into my lap a second later, Sam spoke up.
"If I give you 50 bucks can we see that again with tongue?" Sam's slurring was worse than mine. He looked like he was barely able to sit upright.
"I'm not sure if I'm disgusted or turned on by that little display," Clint was way worse than when I left him. It was a good thing there were plenty of muscly guys around because there was no way I was dragging his heavy ass down the stairs. "I think it may be a little of both."
"I'm turned on," Sam grinned goofily at us. "Very turned on. If I get you two more shots can we see that again?"
"Of course," Natasha smiled sweetly. "Off you go."
Sam jumped up from the chair he was sitting on. In his drunken haste he managed to tangled himself up with his own feet and hit the floor with a loud bang.
"I'm still good," Sam shouted over the music, springing back to his feet. His drunkenly stumble back to the bar.
"If I give you this very nice glass of 15 year old scotch can I see it again too?" Clint's grin was cat who are the canary proud. "I've decided that I'm more turned on than disgusted."
"And what do I get Barton?" Natasha pouted heavily at him. "I'm not drinking that shit."
I snorted but snatched the glass away from Clint. Natasha really had no taste. Typical Russian and always wanting vodka. She just never appreciated a good glass of scotch.
"Nothing," Clint laughed. "I'm the birthday boy and if I want my 2 hot female friends to kiss I should be able to get it."
"Where's Jared?" Natasha abruptly changed the subject. She wiggled around in my lap, turning to look around the room. The pout on her face was cute. But the flash of annoyance I didn't expect. I was sure she knew why Jared was in such a shitty mood, but wouldn't tell.
"Something to do with work," I took a sip of the scotch Clint had given me. The amber liquor swirled around in my mouth before going down far too easily. Whoever got it for Clint had really good taste in scotch. It was one of the nicest ones I'd ever tasted. Or maybe that was just the rest of the liquor talking.
"Hey give that back if you two aren't making out," Clint tried to snatch the glass from me. In his drunken state he moved far too slow. I laughed as I moved just out of reach and threw the rest of the glass down. It was a sin to drink a good scotch like that, but there was no way I was giving it back to Clint.
"Too slow Hawk," I giggled.
"You suck," Clint grumbled and picked up one of the many glasses in front of him and shoved it in my face. "Drink this and both of you come dance with me."
Natasha snatched up one of the random glasses in front of Clint, throwing it back in one easy motion. She scrunched her face up in disgust as she jumped down off my lap. I only managed to down my drink before she was dragging me along onto the dance floor. Clint was only a few seconds in joining us. On our way, Sam came back with 4 shots. With my head already spinning, I didn't object when he pushed one into my hands.
I woke up the next morning with a pounding headache and something heavy clinging onto me. It took way too much effort to crack my eyes open and find myself back in my bedroom. Clint was wrapped around me in a freakishly strong and slightly awkward grip. He was spooning me from behind, with his leg thrown over mine, making it near impossible to move. I closed my eyes trying to remember how the hell we ended up like this, I was wearing boxers and a t-shirt and Clint had stripped down to just his jeans.
Everything after my last shot last night was very hazy. I vaguely remember dancing but anything after that was a blank. I desperately needed to pee and go down myself in a few gallons of water. For the amount I drank last night, I wasn't feel too terrible besides the headache.
"Hawk," I grunted trying to shove him off me. "Get off me."
Clint responded by mumbling something and just tightening his grip on me. His leg closed over mine harder and he buried his head into my shoulder.
"Oh for fuck sake," I groaned. I wriggled as much as I could. Even though I barely managed to move much. I kicked Clint as hard as I could with minimal room to move. It only made him grip me harder. I kicked him again and wiggled as hard as I could against his iron grip.
"Stop wiggling," Clint's sleepy voice made my movements stop. "I keep telling you if you put some weight on, I might find it a turn on."
"Yeah I'm sure your wife would love that," I rolled my eyes. His grip still hadn't loosened. "Let me go, I need to pee."
"Really?" Clint sounded a little more awake all of a sudden. His arm which was been slung along my stomach tightened, pressing right on my bladder.
"I hate you," I struggled against him even more. "I swear to god Barton I'm going to piss all over your arm, then rip it off and beat you to death with it. Let me go."
"You're no fun," Clint snickered behind me, but finally released his grip.
I shot out of the bed before he could change his mind. I wouldn't put it past Clint to give me the sense of freedom before tackling me and tickling me. I wasn't too ticklish but he could put enough pressure on the right points to make things a thousand times worse than normal. He'd done it on more than one occasion with our morning workouts. It usually ended up with him getting kicked in the nuts,
I went to the bathroom first. Moving made a small amount of nausea be known, but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it should have been. I grabbed some aspirin from the bathroom and wandered in the kitchen for a drink. The sight in the living room made me falter for a second. Coulson was passed out on the couch, snoring lightly. He looked almost comical laying on his back with the pink bunny blanket over him. Where he'd found it was anyone's guess. Or Jared's idea of a joke.
Coulson didn't move as I tiptoed into the kitchen. It was only 0645 so I wasn't going to stay up. May as well head back to bed and enjoy the sleep in. I pulled out 2 water bottles and went quietly back to the bedroom. Clint was lying on his back, arm thrown over his face looking like he was fast asleep. Even in my slightly hungover state I wasn't fooled. I grinned mischievously as I froze the water bottle. Then I threw it at him.
It landed with a perfect smack on Clint's abdomen. The cold made Clint shoot up and spit a few nasty Russian curses at me. I stood in the doorway covering my mouth so my laughing wouldn't wake up Coulson.
"Nice payback, I guess I deserved that one," Clint grumbled, throwing the frozen bottle on the ground. He craned his head to look at the time and wrinkled his nose at seeing the clock. "Nope, fuck it going back to sleep."
Clint threw the covers back over his head and burrowed down into them. I took my aspirin and finished the bottle of water before climbing back into bed. Clint tried to yank all the blankets away from me as soon as I got comfortable. I'd managed to half wrap myself up, so he didn't get too much off me.
"You're such a child," I snorted. I burrowed under the blankets with a cold shiver. Clint must have fiddled with the air conditioning before we went to bed. It was freezing in the bedroom. I hadn't noticed it being this cold when I first got up. Then again, I did have Clint wrapped around me. I wouldn't admit it to him, but it was kind of nice being wrapped up in someones arms. Even if it was Clint attached to those arms. I was missing human contact and physical touch more and more these days. Even to the point where I was actually starting to get some kind of sex drive back. But after having someone as amazing as Riley in bed, going back to sex toys and my own hand just didn't seem to cut it these days. Not having Riley around was almost becoming bearable, except in those moments.
"Cold?" Clint pulled me back into his chest. He was warm. Very warm. I didn't have any problems in snuggling back into him. I was asleep before I knew it.
I woke up again at a much more acceptable time of 1145. The apartment was still quiet and Clint released his grip on me straight away this time. I yawned and padded out to the kitchen. I desperately wanted coffee and some more water. My headache had settled down to a dull throb and I was more hungry than nauseous now. Coulson was gone from the couch.
Jared had brought a Keurig when he got home from his mission. I was thoroughly enjoying the range of pods that had come with it. The vanilla coffee was fast becoming a favourite. Just as I flicked it on, the door to Jared's bedroom slowly opened.
"Want a coffee Jared?" I called out.
I turned to look at my brother. Only to find Sam standing in the doorway looking at me wide eyed in horror. He was still doing up his pants and looked extremely hungover. On a second glance, the enormous hickey on his neck was very clear.
"Wow, Sammy I didn't think you or my brother swung that way," I covered my surprise with sass. "Unless there's someone else in there with you?"
"I want a coffee Kari," Natasha's voice came from inside Jared's bedroom. "Pretty please."
Oh. My. God. Did Sam and Natasha get it on last night? Judging by the scarlet red shade Sam was quickly turning my guess is something good happened. I tried to hide my grin but I failed pretty quickly. How funny that I just busted Sam doing his walk of shame. The way he'd tried to be quiet while opening the door just gave him away.
"Did you want a coffee Sam?" I managed to ask without bursting out laughing at him. He looked frozen on the spot. His mouth was opening and closing like a fish out of water. This was the ultimate revenge for all the teasing he dished over to me.
The sound of the front door opening made both our heads whip around to see who was coming in. A second later Coulson appeared, balancing a tray full of coffee and bag of what smelt like bagels. Jared was a step behind him, looking a little worse for wear. Both of them stopped mid conversation to stare at the scene in front of them. Just when I think this couldn't get any better, those two arrived.
"Seriously Tasha, a STRIKE guy?" Jared called out. "I thought you had better taste than that."
Poor Sam. Now he just looked like he wanted to die on the spot.
"I'm leaving," Sam mumbled under his breath. Without looking any of us in the eye, he slipped out of the apartment. 4 pairs of eyes watched in, in ever growing amusement until the front door opened and shut again. A few seconds later we all burst out laughing. Coulson included.
"Oh that was too good not to let Evans know," Coulson put the tray of coffee's down and grabbed out his phone. "Coffee and bagels for everyone. You're welcome."
"You're awfully chipper this morning," I pounced straight for the coffee. There was one with my name written on the lid making me smile. Coulson was the best handler in the world. He always remembered that I like vanilla in my coffee.
"Drunk Phil always makes sure sober Phil doesn't regret his drinking the next morning," Clint called from the bedroom. "And everyone around him."
"Well I'll thank drunk Coulson next time I see him," I took a long drink of the coffee. It was from the awesome cafe just down the road. They did the best coffee I'd ever had in my life. I dug around the bag to see what bagels Coulson had brought. As predicted, there was a creme cheese and salmon one for me.
"You better be changing my sheets," Jared didn't sound very happy. It made me glance up from my bagel hunting to see Natasha walking out of his room. In a pair of Jared's tight boxers and one of his Academy shirts that had seen better days. She just gave Jared an innocent smile before picking up her own coffee. I pushed the bagel bag over towards her. Before she could touch it, Jared snatched it out of her reach.
"If you didn't decide to work most of the night I wouldn't have had to take Sam," Natasha didn't miss a beat. Her declaration made me snort the coffee out of my nose in surprise. I looked between them with a growing horror while I hastily grabbed a napkin to wipe up the mess I just made. Oh hell no. Natasha and Clint had both reassured me multiple times that there wasn't anything going on between Natasha and Jared. I'd had my doubts despite those reassurances. Sometimes those two were just a little too close to be called friendly.
"I keep telling you Tasha, the day I'm feeling suicidal is the day I climb between those thighs," Jared said around a mouthful of bagel.
I groaned at Jared's terrible joke, and in relief as well. I don't think I'd ever be able to handle those two sleeping together.
"Shame," Natasha purred at him with her deadly smile. "Sam didn't seem to mind."
"And now we have something to tease him about for the next few years," Clint finally wandered out from my bedroom. "I feel surpassingly human. Thanks Coulson."
"Taco Bell, banana milkshakes and so much Gatorade we had to stop for Kari to pee 7 times on the way home," Coulson gave me an amused smirk. I really didn't remember that. "Works every time."
We really needed drunk Coulson around a lot more when we went on drinking binges.
Monday morning rolled around. After a lazy day on Sunday with us doing nothing but eating junk food and lounging around Clint's place, it was hard to get motivated to come to work. Especially with me waking up with a major headache. I was nearly tempted to ask Jared to teleport me to work. But his door was closed and at the early hour I left, he probably wouldn't be too happy about the interruption.
My head hurt. So badly. Considering my lack of a hangover yesterday this must have been payback for it. Riding my Kawasaki to work had been a new level of torture. I really, really should have gotten Jared to drop me off. Even the multiple painkillers I'd knocked back had barely touched the sides. I probably should have just stayed home. But the promise of a day on the range with nothing but my AWSM and lots of targets was too tempting to pass up. It'd been too long since I'd been able to spend a few uninterrupted hours at the range.
I took another 2 aspirin as soon as I hit my locker. I closed my eyes, leaning my forehead on the top shelf of my locker willing my pounding head to stop. Even if it was just for a couple of hours. It was starting to make me feel nauseous.
"Wow you look fucking terrible again," Natasha's voice made me crack one eye open. She was leaning against Clint's locker, her face full of concern as she looked at me. "Why are you even here?"
Thanks Natasha. You always know what to say to make me feel so much better.
"It's just a headache," the excuse sounded weak, even to me. I couldn't muster enough energy to be sarcastic or snarky with her. "It'll go away soon."
"Yeah no," Natasha furrowed her brow while staring at me. "Lets go to medical and get that checked out. You're worse than Barton with keeping yourself in one piece."
"Its fine Nat," I protested. "It's just…"
I didn't get a chance to finish. A pain so blindingly sharp smashed into my ribs. It just came from nowhere. I couldn't even give out a cry of pain as I crumpled to the ground clutching at my side trying to get my breath. I barely heard Natasha's panicked call of my name, nor the heavy footsteps that came running over. It was like something else had taken over my body. I was seeing something that definitely wasn't in the STRIKE locker room. A quick glance down saw this wasn't my body either.
My entire body throbbed in agony. My throat was dry and my stomach was so coiled with stress I didn't think I'd ever be able to swallow. Leaning in front of me was a blonde hair women with a cool look of indifference on her face.
"Shame," she purred in Russian. "This one is pretty. He'd make a nice pet."
"Go fuck yourself Yelana," Jared's strained voice came out. Pain flared through my entire body just trying to get the words out. "Fuck you and all you cunts from the Red Room."
And it was gone as quickly as it came on. I flailed around, gasping for air as I sat up. Suddenly I was back on the floor of the locker room.
"Whoa, whoa it's ok," Clint's voice reached me first. I felt his hand around my arm. "Breathe, relax."
I scrunched up my face and rubbed my eyes hard. My headache was slowly disappearing and whatever pain had hit me before was long gone. I felt wildly disorientated from whatever just happened. That had never, ever happened before in our entire lives. Emotions yes, but I'd never been able to see what was happening to Jared. What the hell was he doing?
"We've got medics on the way," Clint sounded calm and reassuring. "What hurts?"
"Jared," a wad of bile rose in my throat which I hastily swallowed down. "It's not me, it's Jared."
I could finally open my eyes, although everything was still blurred. Clint was crouching down in front of me. He looked pale and his face pinched with worry. Natasha was standing next to him. I didn't miss the brief clench of her hand on his shoulder, her knuckles turning white for the briefest moment. A circle of other guys were crowded around me looking on in concern.
"Someone get Coulson right now," Clint's voice was firm but I knew him well enough to detect a slight hitch of emotion. "Can you get up?"
"Think so," I blinked a few times in the light trying to refocus some more. Clint offered his hand which I gratefully took as he pulled me up. I was shaking all over from the last bits of adrenaline I didn't even realise was surging through my body. I only managed a step before my legs collapsed out from underneath me. I didn't hit the floor. Clint grabbed me before my shin could even touch the ground.
"Easy," Clint lowered me back to the ground gently. "Just wait another minute."
The headache was coming back now. I winced and buried my face into my hands, squeezing my eyes tightly shut to try and ward off the pain. None of this made any sense. Jared had been home last night. From what he's said over dinner he was enjoying a week off. He was meant to be heading to New York to see Mom and Dad as of this morning. I was in bed and asleep by 2100. He could have left at anytime. With his powers there wasn't a corner of the Earth he couldn't reach.
"Pick up your fucking phone Jared," Natasha whispered words reached my ears. I'd never heard her sound so worried in all the months I'd known her. I blearily lifted my head from my hands to see her fingers flying over the screen of her phone. No doubt trying to do a trace on his location. Her face was pale and her eyes wide as she stared at the screen. Her fingers suddenly stopped, hovering above the phone.
"What did you see?" Natasha glanced up to me. She was speaking in clipped Russian, almost like she didn't realise she'd actually slipped back into her native tongue.
"A blonde woman. Jared called her Yelana, like he knew who it was," I rubbed my eyes again trying to focus some more. I just needed my head to stop hurting. "Who's Yelana?"
I didn't think Natasha's face could get any paler. All colour drained from it and she stared at me, wide eyed and open mouthed in horror. Without a word she ran from the room, deaf to Clint calling after her.
"Fuck this isn't happening," Clint had gone pale himself. "Did you see anything else?"
I shook my head. All I'd seen is that blonde woman. There had been nothing else. No details, no clues to anything expect my brother was being tortured by a blonde haired woman with a cold stare. My stomach knotted uncomfortably and I felt like I was going to be sick. I quickly clamped my hand over my mouth as my stomach heaved. There was nothing in my stomach except for a few aspirin to throw up. And there was no way I was throwing up with everyone still standing there watching the commotion going on.
In one fast motion Clint yanked me up into his arms and carried me into the bathroom. In those few hurried steps my stomach began to protest heavily and he dropped me at the toilet just in time. My stomach recoiled and I threw up the few aspirin and all the water I'd chugged down this morning trying to relieve the headache. I rested my head on the toilet bowel waiting for it to pass. My stomach was still a massive knot of nerves and anxiety and I didn't trust myself to push away from the toilet just yet.
"You're ok," Clint rubbed my back in gentle circles. "Just breathe."
I might be ok, but I knew Jared wasn't. Whatever was being done to him right now was making him lose any kind of self control he had. It hurt, whatever had been done to him hurt so badly.
"Who's Yelana?" I tried again. If I couldn't get an answer from Natasha then Clint might tell me. By the way Clint's hands stilled on my back I knew I wasn't going to like the answer.
"She trained in the Red Room with Natasha," Clint's honestly was appreciated. "Natasha has been trying to kill her for years."
"What does Jared have to do with that?"
Clint was silent behind me for what felt like the longest time. He heaved a huge sigh before he started to speak again.
"Jared and Natasha had a run in with her not long before you joined SHIELD," Clint kept rubbing circles on my back as if it was distracting him. "They got lured into a trap trying to take down what was left of the Red Room. There's not much left but what there is, well it's deadly."
I sat back so I could see Clint's face. He looked as stressed as I was feeling. His fists were clenched so tightly, his knuckles had gone as white as his face. He looked like he was having a hard time keeping his breathing even.
"Yelana is very clever and slippery. She tortured Natasha in front of Jared and didn't touch him. They just escaped by the skin of their teeth," Clint shook his head. "Jared swore he'd kill the bitch and tear every piece of the Red Room down with him. My guess is Yelana got bored and enticed him to come after her."
"How the hell did Jared get permission to do that?" I said hoarsely. Jared had a lot more leeway with his work than we did. But I couldn't see him being allowed to do something like this. Fury must have been stoned to let Jared go off on a mission like this by himself.
"I don't think he did," Clint's very quiet words made my stomach drop. If I hadn't already thrown up everything in it, I would have been over the toilet bowl again. I remembered back to all those months ago after my first day at SHIELD when I'd been horrified to read what SHIELD did to its rouge agents. If Jared had gone off by himself this was about to get messy. I might just kill him myself for being so fucking stupid.
"Somebody grab Romanoff and force her into my office," Coulson's voice could be heard clearly in the bathroom. Clint and I both swivelled our heads towards the doorway. Coulson appeared only a few seconds later.
"Can you get up?" Coulson wasn't messing around. His face was set in a deadly serious expression. This really wasn't good.
"Yep," whether I could or not wasn't going to stop me. With Clint supporting me I got to my feet and thankfully stayed on them this time. My body swayed back and forth unsteadily.
"What did Jared tell you last night?" Coulson asked straight away. He stood there with his arms crossed, gaze boring into me. Even if I knew what Jared was doing last night, there would be no way I'd lie to Coulson about this.
"Nothing," I forced my voice to stay steady. My eyes started to burn like I was about to start crying. I chewed on my lip, hard, before I could continue. "He said he was going to see our parents during the week."
The headache hit me again, hard enough to slam my eyes shut and press the heel of my palm into them. God it hurt. It felt like I'd just been punched in the head full force. Whoever was doing it was a good hitter too. It was hard enough to hurt like hell, but not enough to knock someone out. Natasha was good at these punches. It was enough to knock you on your ass with perfect timing and aim. No doubt Yelana could do the exact same thing.
More footsteps came into the bathroom along with a lot of voices. My head was hurting too much to focus on what was being said. Clint hands which was still on my arm guided me into my legs hit something. I managed to crack one eye open to see the stretcher in front of me. I didn't need to be told twice. I flopped down on it, face first and yanked a pillow over my head to block out the noise.
I barely felt a needle slide into my arm and get injected with what I hoped to be some potent painkiller. If it was even going to work. The feeling of the stretcher being moved with my eyes shut was enough to make me feel queasy again. But the painkillers did kick in, and fast. By the time we made it to medical, I'd relinquished the pillow over my head. I still had my face buried in the mattress though.
"Kari, talk to you Mom please," Coulson wedged the phone to my ear before I could protest. I shifted my arm so I could hold the phone properly.
"Did Jared tell you anything?" Mom didn't waste time. She sounded unusually calm and very focused right now. Almost too calm.
"No, Mom I swear he didn't say anything," I pushed myself up half an inch and experimented with having my eyes open. It didn't hurt like last time, so I wriggled back up into a sitting position. Bad idea. My head started to spin at the sudden movement. I was forced to close my eyes again just so I didn't fall off to bed in my dizziness. In my brief glance around the room, I was alone for now. "He was on the phone on Saturday night saying it was to do with work and nothing else."
I could almost feel the worry pouring off Mom right now. I didn't need to have her powers to know what I just told her was a very bad thing.
"He's still alive," I rubbed my eyes before opening them again. "Mom I can feel almost everything being done to him. I saw…"
My voice trailed off as the words got stuck in my throat. Bad really didn't describe this situation right now. A fucking nightmare sounded like a much better use of words. I only hoped Jared actually had permission to go off and do this. If he did at least we could be in a Quinjet within 10 minutes to go find him and drag his stupid ass home. If he didn't have clearance, I had a very small inkling of a plan on how to go and get him. It was a stupid plan, but at least it was something. I had a very bad feeling that this definitely wasn't a mission Jared was sent on.
"I know, Phil told me," Mom sounded like she was tapping on a keyboard in the background. "Kari, promise me you won't do anything stupid right now."
"I won't," I said as sincerely as I could make my voice. It wouldn't surprise me if Mom saw right through my lie.
"I mean it," Mom's voice shook this time. "If Jared's gone off book for this one, its…"
Mom trailed off. By her breathing on the other end of the phone it sounded like she was struggling to keep her emotions in check. In return I felt my own throat tighten. The conversation Mom had with Lynette while I was still waking up echoed through my mind. Mom had said then she had no idea what she'd do if she lost one of us. I had no idea what I'd do if I lost Jared. I'd only just started functioning properly on a daily basis without Riley. Without my own twin, I don't think I'd ever be able to get over that.
"I won't do anything stupid," I said again.
Stupid could cover a lot of things. In my mind, I wouldn't call going after Jared stupid. Professional suicide maybe. But not stupid.
"Just, call us when you hear something," Mom blew out a very shaky breath. "Please, please be careful."
"I will," at least that wasn't a lie. As soon as I knew what was happening Mom would know about it. Either by me ringing her or she would be getting a phone call from Coulson saying I'd disappeared too.
That also sounded very vaguely like permission to do what I needed to do. I hung up before I said anything that would give me away. The less anyone knew the better. As I hung up, Clint and Natasha both came into the room. Natasha was red faced and looked ready to murder someone. In the brief time she'd left my side, she changed into her standard catsuit and was already armed. She came straight to me, pulling me into a tight hug. Clint sat beside me and hugged both of us. I closed my eyes and forced myself to stay calm. Tears wouldn't help me now. I had to focus on the tiny plan I had forming in my head. It wasn't much, but it was the only thing I could think of.
"We'll get him back," Natasha whispered in my ear as she clung to me so hard I'd have bruises tomorrow. "I swear Kari, I won't rest until that bitch is dead and Jared comes home."
"Coulson is coming," Clint murmured quietly.
The three of us untangled, perched on the edge of the bed waiting for news. Coulson got one step away from the door before hesitating. It seemed to take an eternity before he swung the door open. His phone was in his hand, his index finger absently tapping on the back of it.
"I've spoken to Fury and Agent Hand," Coulson started.
"Who's Agent Hand?" I cut in. I mentally smacked myself for the interruption. Why did I have to ask such stupid and unimportant questions at the worst times?
"She runs The Hub," Coulson looked mildly relieved at my interruption. Like what he was about to say was going to be hard. My heart sank even further at the look on his face. "It's where all the back-end of ops is carried out."
I knew what The Hub was. I just hadn't been there before. Being based out of the Triskelion meant there was no need for us to ever go there.
"She has no record of Jared being sent on a mission," Coulson looked between the three of us with pity and worry all over his face. "Neither does Fury. Jared went off by himself."
The tiny sliver of hope that I had crashed down on me. Hearing those words were a slap in the face, even though I was expecting it. The rational part of my brain knew it already. But it still hurt like hell hearing the words.
"He has 72 hours to come back," Coulson turned his gaze to me. "If he isn't back in 72 hours, SHIELD will have considered him to have gone rogue."
Coulson's eyes flicked over to Natasha. He had to stop and take a deep breath before spitting out the last part of what he had to say.
"And SHIELD will send someone to eliminate him," Coulson rushed out the last part. He looked back to me with raw grief all over his face. It was unlike the look he gave me back at Camp Cooke just after Riley died. "Kari I'm so sorry. There's nothing we can do."
"But Phil," I felt breathless, like the words had knocked everything out of me. "Surely you can send a team in?"
"This isn't official SHIELD business," Coulson shook his head. "Even if it was and they were holding Jared for ransom. SHIELD doesn't negotiate. Kari, he knows that. Even going off now Jared would have know the consequences of his actions. There is no rescue plan for him. All we can do is hope he gets himself out of trouble and gets his ass back here in 72 hours."
72 hours. 3 entire days. The way Coulson kept saying it sounded like he was stressing that number. I glanced to Natasha and Clint in my peripheral vision. Both of them were looking at me as well. Natasha casually put her arm around my waist and pulled me in closer to her. Clint draped his arm over my shoulder. I knew my friends well enough that I had their support in what was about to come next. I was going to need it.
"If you go after him, you know how SHIELD treats its rogue agents," Coulson looked between the 3 of us sharply. "In fact, I forbid it. I have no problem placing you three under house arrest if I have to."
Though his words were harsh, there was a tone in his voice that was sounding vaguely like we should take this on as a dare. It might have been my mind grasping at straws. But from the glint that appeared in Natasha's eyes, maybe it wasn't such a crazy idea after all. Forbidding Natasha or Clint to do anything was a sure way to get them to go and do exactly what they'd been told not to do.
"Go home," Coulson opened the door to the medical bay. "And I swear to god if the three of you aren't at your respective apartments when I check on you later on, there will be hell to pay. Kari, leave your bike here."
"Okay," I said in a very small voice. I jumped down off the bed, with Clint and Natasha still attached to me. I couldn't even look Coulson in the face as I walked out the door. I felt like I was about to give everything away. The pieces of my plan were starting to fall into place quicker and quicker. At least I knew where I had to go as soon as we left here.
"I mean it guys," Coulson's voice made us all turn around to face him. "Don't go after him. If you do SHIELD won't help or protect you. Neither can I."
"We understand Coulson," Clint nodded in understanding. He tightened his arm around my shoulders briefly before speaking again. "We'll get Kari home and make sure she stays there."
Coulson's fingers tapped out something very quickly. It was so quick that I almost missed it. Clint had started to teach me some very basic sign language, but we'd been slack about it lately. It wasn't sticking in my head very well. Clint gave him the smallest of nods. If you weren't looking close, you would easily miss it. Nothing else was said as we all turned around and walked out of medical.
The walk to the garage was agonisingly slow. None of us spoke on the way down there. Natasha slipped into Clint's car with us, leaving her Corvette here as well. It was until we were well clear of the Triskelion, I finally found my voice.
"What did Coulson sign?" I asked.
"He told us to be careful," Clint glanced back to me with a small smile on his face. Instant relief broke over me. I had actually read the situation correctly. "Do you have a plan?"
"Yes I do."
Authors Note
Oh Jared, what have you done? You complete asshole making your sister worry like that.
I am excited to be starting to get back into the action of this. I've had this planned for a long time, so I hope it doesn't disappoint.
I hope to get the next part to this chapter out in 2 weeks. I realise my updates are all over the place still, but I've had a lot going on in real life. Hopefully the next chapter will bring an exciting announcement that I've been tirelessly working on for the last month.
No I'm not pregnant. Before anyone asks!
But I'm also really happy to see this has over 200 favourites now. Thank you to everyone who's been following this. Whether you review or just lurk, I appreciate every single one of you who take the time to read this.
Until next time!
