2011 turned into 2012 and Laura was busier than ever.
The construction of Stark Tower was well underway.
Her training sessions with Nat had become more intense.
Herself being able to stand her ground against her more and more.
The two were currently in a sparring circle in a large empty room in The Triskelion circling each other.
"So you're saying everything goes?" Laura asked her cautiously.
"Within reason… but yes. Out there, in the field… its life and death. I've taught you everything I know." she said seriously.
"Don't hold back then…" she instantly reached for her shoulders but Nat grabbed her wrists and began pushing her against the wall.
She spun around and planted her feet down as she tried to punch her.
Nat blocked each attempt and struck her back in the face.
She didn't look affected but used the opportunity to grab the collar of her uniform to spin her around.
Nat grabbed her shirt and slammed her hard against the mat.
"Stay down." she warned.
"No!" she swept her ankles while thrusting herself upwards but Nat swept hers while she was going down, and the two matched their fall.
She used her ankles to push herself upwards but Nat was already waiting for her.
"I said don't hold back. You're holding back!" she accused angrily while panting, trying to catch her breath.
"You're not ready for…" Nat began but Laura shoved her off of her with her strength to shove her against the floor.
Nat spun her around so she broke her fall.
She reached for her throat but Laura grabbed for her wrist.
Nat grabbed hers as the she was on top of her on the ground with their.
They grabbed each other's guns while getting up instantly and were in a standoff.
Laura could see something flash in her eyes.
"You need to stand down." Nat repeated sternly.
"Admit I can stand against you and I'll yield." she argued.
"You've… improved since I first met you." Nat conceded.
An alert went off on her, getting the two's attention.
They slowly lowered their fists and Laura brushed a loose strain out of her glasses lens.
"I yield." Laura put her hands up.
She walked over to grab two water bottles as Nat read the message on her phone.
"I've gotta head up to Fury's office." she told her as Laura offered her the bottle.
"Yeah as much as I love our little "sessions" of ours I gotta head up to New York to check on the tower anyway since I'm out here after wash up first..." the two nodded and shook hands.
Nat took the elevator up to the top floor where Fury's office.
His office taking up the entire top floor.
She walked in to see him at his desk that was ahead of the glass wall that showed D.C. stretched out to the horizon.
"You wanted to see me sir?" she asked while walking up to him, her hands clasped behind her back.
"Ah, Romanoff. I have a new mission for you. Deep shadow. Extraction. A nuclear engineer out of Tehran is defecting with top secret intel regarding Iran's nuclear program. You and your partner will meet him in Tehran and extract him to the rendezvous point." he explained.
"Barton is on that security detail in New Mexico." she stated.
"Yes. And he's too valuable to be transferred. Ahmed will be your partner for this mission." he answered.
"May I speak freely sir?" she asked.
"You may." he nodded.
"With all due respect when Barton brought me in it was him who suggested that we be partners correct?" she asked formally.
"It was. And as I said. That security detail is too important to remove him from. That project has strapped me of some of my best agents. This is far too important." he repeated.
"Sir. Every time you've assigned me a partner that isn't Barton has nearly ended in disaster. Thanks to my partner either not trusting or listening to me. I need someone I trust out there." she argued.
"My hands are tied Romanoff. We need that intel that engineer has and time is critical." he ended the argument from her and looked down at the paperwork on his desk.
"I have another suggestion…" she began and he glanced up to her.
"Absolutely not!" he denied, knowing who she wanted.
"Sir she is technically a consultant and I've been training her for the past year." she argued.
"She's not an agent! She has never seen the field and is one of the most recognized people in the world. I thought you were smarter than by even suggesting this." he exclaimed.
"She's the only one I can trust besides Barton. She would listen to me and while she may not be an agent she is technically a consultant." she countered.
"A technical consultant. Romanoff! Not an agent." Fury corrected.
"Sir you and I both know she has seen more of the field for someone her age than most of our agents have. She told me what she's done. What she's willing to do. I wouldn't be putting my reputation on the line by suggesting this if I wasn't serious about this. Every agent that hasn't been Barton you've partnered me with has nearly compromised the mission. If you won't let me do this alone then its either Barton or her." she said firmly.
He sighed while getting up and began pacing the room.
"Even if I were to even consider thinking about this there's still the matter of her fame and visible injury Romanoff." he stepped to face her.
"Have you thought of that?"
"Yes, sir." she nodded.
He narrowed his eye at her but she maintained her gaze up at him.
"I can't even believe I'm even thinking about this…" he sighed.
"Very well Romanoff. Bring her up."
Laura was getting ready to go when Nat asked her to come up to Fury's office.
After asking why she explained the mission and that she needed someone out in the field.
She told her no but that was fallen onto deaf ears.
They were currently entering the elevator as she voiced her arguments.
"I really don't think this is a good idea…" she repeated.
The control panel highlighted Nat's face, granting her entry but denied Laura once it scanner her.
"Override. Romanoff, Natasha."
"Override confirmed." the A.I. was heard.
"I wouldn't have brought it up with Fury if I didn't think it was." Nat countered.
"Do you want the long list or really long list on why this is a stupid idea?" she crossed her arms.
Nat ignored her jab as the doors opened and the two entered the office, getting his attention.
"So, I'd take it Romanoff gave you the rundown of the mission?" he asked her.
"Yes. And I told her it's a stupid idea." she scoffed.
"Regardless. It's with my extreme reluctant less I'm going to allow this. Agent Romanoff has never let me down so her record is going to reflect on you. Don't make me regret this." he warned while leaning over his desk at her.
She narrowed her eyes back at him, not liking his tone.
"I don't want to do this. I'm only going to do this because my friend asked me too. You're not in charge of me. I'm not doing it for you." she turned around and walked back to the elevator before he could respond.
Nat raised an eyebrow back at her but then looked to Fury.
"Am I dismissed, sir?" she asked.
"You are. Don't make me regret this Romanoff." he warned again.
"Yes sir." she nodded and walked out.
The doors were about to close but Nat snuck between then.
"So you still failed to ask my question on how you're going to cover my identity and my prosthetics. The prosthetics themselves especially are a dead giveaway." she said sarcastically.
"I've got it covered." Nat reassured her.
"But how?" she asked again and she looked over to her.
"I've. Got. It. Covered."
The next day.
Tehran, Iran.
Inman Khomeini International Airport.
Laura and Nat had taken a connecting Swiss Air flight from Geneva to meet up with the engineer.
SHIELD had provided them with fake Canadian passports and visas.
She had previously let Tony and Pepper know she'd be gone for an extended period of time with work for SHIELD.
Being as vague as possible.
Laura herself was currently walking up to the customs counters.
She was covered in a black Chador that covered herself and Hijab.
All of her skin being covered.
She had a bag strapped over herself while rolling her suitcase.
She looked through her sunglasses as she carried her bags through the queues that led up to the customs counters.
She glanced over to Nat who had her hair dyed brunette under her hijab a few counters over who subtlety glanced over to her.
Swallowing her nerves, she brought out her passport that already had a few stamps on it along with a ticket as she stepped up to the agent behind the counter and glass.
Giving it to him.
He looked down at it and then up at her.
"Sunglasses off." he asked in a thick Persian accent.
"Oh, sorry…" she reached up to take them off.
She left them in her grasp as the guard inspected the passport.
He looked down at her and then at her passport a few times and she did her best to remain calm under his gaze.
He stamped it and gave it back to her.
"Thank you." she nodded back and put on her sunglasses as she walked through the gates.
She looked around the crowded terminal, looking for Nat.
Spotting her by the exit, she shuffled through the crowd to her.
"The passports worked at least." she whispered and breathed a sigh of relief.
"And so is your disguise." Nat replied.
"I swear I thought that agent recognized me." she said nervously.
"You need to relax. We cleared customs. You're doing fine. Just blend into the crowd and follow me." Laura did what she was told and followed her outside to the line of taxis.
They made their way to a residential street in Northern Tehran.
The street was lined with houses behind concrete walls and white apartment buildings.
They got out and thecall to prayer was blasting loudly from a nearby mosque and Laura glanced back to it.
"You okay?" Nat asked, seeing the look on her face.
"Yeah, yeah just being mindful of my surroundings." she lied badly.
Nat glanced to her but they walked up the hill to the safehouse which was a small garage in the steep hills at the base of snow capped mountains.
Nat led them inside and she sighed as she closed the door and flicked on the lights.
"Finally I can take this thing stupid off my head…" she sighed while taking the sunglasses and hijab off of her.
"We don't have much time. We're meeting up with the engineer tonight. We have a long journey to the rendezvous point." Nat said while walking over to a Lada in the garage.
"This was the best SHIELD could do?" Laura crossed her arms, unimpressed.
"It's low profile." she replied.
"This is exactly why the Soviet Union lost the Cold War." she insulted but Nat looked over to her.
"No offence." she added quickly.
"None taken." Nat opened up the trunk and pulling out a suitcase.
"Here. This is for the journey to the rendezvous point." she gave it to her.
Laura placed it down on the floor and opened it, revealing what looked like two weeks worth of clothes and two Glocks on top of the pile.
She stopped going through them and looked over to Nat.
"Geez where exactly is this rendezvous point?"
Sunrise the next morning, the two had picked up the engineer and Nat was currently driving them out of the city on the highway leading North.
Laura herself was in the backseat, glancing around to make sure they weren't being followed.
Nat had told her where the rendezvous point was and how they were getting there and she was not pleased.
After two days of solid driving they finally made it to the border with Azerbaijan.
They were currently in the line of traffic as border guards inspected each car and truck.
"So I'm assuming our friend has a new passport?" Laura asked.
The engineer, a man in his fifties who had greying hair with a bald spot spoke to Nat in Farsi and she replied back to him in it.
"I didn't have time to learn Farsi." she said sarcastically.
"He should be fine. Just follow my lead. This isn't my first illegal border crossing." she said while looking back at her in the mirror and Laura saw the mischievousness in her eyes.
They made it through the border without any issues to Laura's relief.
The journey itself was long.
Longer than anyone she had been on.
Despite being with the engineer and always on the lookout she kinda enjoyed being an actual agent.
But she would never tell her that.
She also didn't understand why the rendezvous point was in Ukraine.
When she asked Nat why it wasn't closer or just in Baku that she just gave a vague answer of him being a high priority target.
The three were currently at a gas station outside of Odessa.
Laura was stretching her arms and brushed her ankle length skirt that she wasn't use to wearing as Nat filled the car with gas.
"Listen Natasha why don't I drive for the next leg. You look like you could use a break." she offered.
"I'm fine." she replied and Laura knew she was lying.
"Natasha we've driven thousands of miles. Nothing has happened. Nobody has followed us. Hell even in Iran nobody even suspected me! Let alone our friend. I think if something was going to happen by now it would have." she argued.
"You should know by now that anything can happen out here." Nat reminded her and she rolled her eyes.
"Weren't you the one who called me paranoid? Trust me. I've been waiting for something to happen for weeks now and all this has been the world's longest most boring drive in history. We're almost there. Just to Odessa. Please." she asked finely but firmly.
Nat sighed as she put the pump away.
"Fine. Agent Watson. Your call." she jested and Laura glared at her.
"Please don't ever call me that again."
Later that afternoon, Laura was driving the Lada along the Black Sea coast, making good time to Odessa.
The journey had become monotonous long ago, with nothing but the rough sound of the engine and small talk with Nat for company.
She manually changed a gear as the road ascended up the cliffside along the sea.
"Next time we stop we should get some transmission fluid. This is transmission is shit." she told Nat.
"We're almost at the rendezvous. That won't be necessary." she replied.
"Finally! This trip has almost ruined my love of driving." she sighed in relief.
They continued to climb hundreds of feet up the coast which showed a nice view of the shining sea against the clear blue winter sky.
Laura glanced over to admire it but the tires were suddenly shot out.
"Shit!" she yelled as she slammed on the breaks.
She burnt rubber as the car tail spun to the left and over the cliff.
It tumbled as she used her arms to protect her face from the shattered glass as the car rolled several times.
She felt her head and arms hit the metal roof and door hard with each roll until the car landed on its roof on a ledge far below.
The car was smoking as Laura groaned while hanging upside down from her seatbelt.
"Laura, Laura, Laura!" she heard Nat's voice.
"I'm okay. How's the engineer?" she asked with worry.
She unclicked herself, landing on the roof with a thud as Nat reached back to check his pulse.
"Unconscious but alive. Blunt force trauma to the head." she answered, seeing the wound on his forehead with blood trickling down.
"Who the hell shot out our tires?" Laura asked confused.
"Not sure. We gotta get out of this car." Nat kicked the bent door open and crawled out.
Laura crawled over the broken glass while Nat got the engineer out.
A rifle shot bounced off the car itself right near their heads, causing them to duck.
"Shit!" Laura cursed while bringing out her gun.
She looked over to Nat who was covering the engineer with her body and crawled over to do the same.
Nat also had her gun out as the two scanned the cliffside where the shots came from.
Another shot went over their heads, pinning them down.
"I can't see where the shots are coming from." she told Nat with worry.
Before she could respond another shot was fired at them.
Laura simply fired back blindly but narrowed her eyes.
She saw a figure far up the cliff with a rifle.
Something was covering his face and something flashed against the sunlight.
Was that a metal arm?" she noticed.
She fired the rest of her bullets at the figure who disappeared from the cliffside as he climbed back up it but heard Nat groan.
She looked back at her to see her clenching a large bullet wound in the side of her stomach, her hands covered in blood.
"Shit I gotta get you out of here That looks bad…"
"The engineer…" she coughed out.
She carefully shifted her out of the way but the same bullet wound pierced through the engineers chest.
"Блядь!" she swore, seeing it was already too late to revive him.
"He's gone." she told Nat gravely.
"Grab the chip. Left coat pocket…" she managed to say.
Laura looked down at her, seeing she was losing blood fast.
"Not good..." she cursed and grabbed the chip from him.
"Alright. Uh, The shooter is gone. I'm gonna get us out of here. Just hang on please…" she told Nat who nodded while still clenching her wound.
She ripped off a piece of shirt and wrapped it over her waist to apply pressure to the wound.
She looked up to see the vertical cliff wall and sighed.
"I'm gonna need some of your help here. We just kinda have to scale a cliff..."
She didn't know how she did it but she managed to climb the 100ft cliff above her while carrying a wounded Nat who was gripping her shoulders for support.
Nat managed to stay conscious to help and support herself as much as possible.
Laura climbed higher and higher until she felt soft grass in her palm.
She let go of her grip in one hand to shove Nat above her with her free hand and hoisted her to the top.
Some rocks tumbled hundreds of feet down as she used all of her strength to swing herself around to get a grip.
She screamed a war cry as she lifted herself upwards to the top of the cliff and then collapsed onto her back.
She was panting, trying to catch her breath as sweat streaked down her face.
Her legs were dangling over the cliff edge but she turned around to check on Nat.
Seeing the trail of blood she applied pressured to the wound but she gripped her hands.
"Use phone… emergency extract… mission… compromised…" she choked and coughed out some blood but finally passed out.
"Natasha just hang on. Please just hang on…" she begged while reaching for Nat's phone in her pocket.
"Come on. Please pick up damn it…"
