A/N: Takes place post season 2 of Smallville! Just my idea for if S.H.I.E.L.D. had been keeping it's eye on a certain Last Son of Krypton. Tell me what you think!
"Can I buy you a drink?" The redhead asked as she sat down next to him.
"I can't say no to a beautiful woman Miss..."
"Just call me Natasha." She replied, handing him the drink. He grinned and nodded before downing the drink in one swallow. He felt himself grow lightheaded, and before he could find out what was happening he passed out.
"Good you're awake." She said, looking over to where the young man's eyes were flickering open, his legs and arms spread on either side of the wall.
"I guess. Now how about you tell me who you are. You're obviously not just someone passing through town, especially given the fact that you managed to capture me. I'm assuming there's no chance of me getting out of these restraints anytime soon?" He asked, and she shook her head.
"Not for the time being, and I didn't lie to you Mr. Kent. My name is Natasha, Natasha Romanov."
"The Black Widow." He muttered, and she nodded.
"Then I guess I should thank you for not trying to kill me for behaving like such a jackass. That rock screws with my head, but that's no excuse."
"Don't apologize. It was...interesting to say the very least." She replied and Clark couldn't help but grin. That was probably as close to a compliment as anyone got from Natasha Romanov.
"So, let's get to the big question. Why did you kidnap me?"
"I was following orders. We've been watching you for some time Mr. Kent, but we also knew that you wouldn't talk to any of us if we just showed up on your doorstep, so we had to wait until you were vulnerable."
"Then tell me Natasha, what is it that you want from me?"
"What we want Mr. Kent is for you to join S.H.I.E.L.D." A man said as he walked into the room. Clark had to hold back a smirk as he saw the man. He looked like Samuel L. Jackson with an eye patch.
"Thank you Agent Romanov, I'll handle it from here." He said, and she nodded before walking out, not giving Clark so much as a second glance.
"Well, you've made quite a name for yourself haven't you? Stopping a different meteor infected person almost every day and then running off to Metropolis where you proceed to screw over Morgan Edge."
"You seem to know a lot about me Mr..."
"Director actually. Director Fury." He replied, and Clark nodded.
"Okay Fury, now how about you answer a question for me. Why the hell would I join an organization that kidnapped me?"
"Because, if you don't things could get ugly. Someone might just start asking the wrong questions, and then who knows where your parents end up?"
"If you go anywhere near them, I promise you that I will kill you and bring everything you have built crashing down if it is the last thing I do." He replied coldly.
"Empty threat kid. We both know that as long as you're in those shackles you can't do anything to me. Now if you'll listen to my offer, maybe we can come to an agreement." He said, and Clark nodded in resignation. They both knew Fury was right. As long as he was exposed to kryptonite he couldn't do a thing; at least if he heard Fury out he may find a way out of his shackles.
"You've done a lot of good Mr. Kent. You've helped a lot of people with no real training. What I'd like to do is give you that training. I'd like to make you the hero that you can be."
"Don't bullshit me Fury. You want an Agent to follow your orders." Clark replied, and Fury smirked. The kid wasn't like everyone else. Most people would have accepted his offer at face value, but Clark obviously wasn't most people.
"Alright, you have a point. Yes, there are some times I'd like you to do some odd jobs for me. However, I would like to help you be a better hero Mr. Kent. You see, there's more to the world than just Smallville. There are threats that are a hundred times worse than what you've had to deal with, people that make your meteor infected look like a punk with a switchblade. Now I would like your help in dealing with those threats."
"Let's say for argument's sake, I lose all trace of sanity and agree to this. The way I see it, I don't need you you need me, so I would have a couple conditions."
"You do realize that your parents could-"
"Fury please stop with the threats. You know as well as I do that having me work under duress is not a smart move. You'd much rather I be willing to work with you." He replied, and Fury smiled again. The kid knew how to play the game, and he'd barely been playing it for half an hour. This may work out better than he thought.
"Alright Mr. Kent. What do you want?"
"First off, I want to see everything you know about me. I want to meet everyone who has access to that information. Then I want your word that my information stays private. The entire file gets redacted. I don't need someone on your pay roll selling out my secret to the highest bidder. Next, I want some sort of a cover story to explain all of this to my parents. They don't need to know that I'm working for the government. My dad would go ballistic. I want them protected without them realizing it. The same thing goes for Pete Ross and Chloe Sullivan. Also, Chloe dosen't get involved in S.H.I.E.L.D. or anything to do with the government or your people, officially or unofficialy."
"Now why would we be interested in a high school journalist?"
"Please stop with the stupid questions. If you've looked into me even half as much as I think you have you know that Chloe's a good hacker. She gets to keep her life. This is nonegotiable. Finally, I'm assuming that you're going to have me taught tradecraft? Fighting, spywork that sort of thing?"
"That will be part of your initial training yes. After you finish we'll focus on your powers, but first we need to teach you not to rely on them."
"Alright. Then I want Romanov. I know her reputation, and while I don't really trust anyone here wherever here is, I trust her the most."
"You expect me to give up my best agent for well over six months to teach you tradecraft?"
"If she's half as good as her reputation, it won't even be six months. Besides, if you want me to be the best, than I should learn from the best. I don't expect her to do this every day. I get that she has a job. So send on whatever missions you have to, and I'll take whatever time she cares to give me and learn. So tell me Director, Natasha, do we have a deal?" He asked, not even bothering to look towards the door as it opened admitting Fury's top agent.
"Well Agent Romanov, what do you think?" Fury asked as he turned to her. He could order her to train the kid, but it would be better if she did the job because she wanted to, and not because he ordered her to.
"I'll take the job. Just understand something Mr. Kent...this is not going to be fun, and if you ever give me anything less than your best you can forget about learning anything. Do we understand each other?"
"Perfectly, and please call me Clark. If we're going to be seeing a lot of each other I'd rather not be addressed like a mark."
"Fair enough. Now here's your first test. Get out of those restraints. You have one minute."
Clark ignored the pain of the restraints digging into his wrists and broke both his thumbs, feeling his hands sliding out of the cuffs, suddenly grateful for all the hours he had spent watching Chuck. Biting his lip to keep from cursing in pain he also broke both his ankles, freeing his legs and sending him falling to the floor. He felt his bones pop as his body healed, just before he rolled to his left barely avoiding a kick from Natasha.
"What the hell?"
"The first thing you have to learn is to not be complacent. Your opponents will not wait for your powers to kick in, they will not hesitate to strike when you are down. This is not some sort of a game like you're used to playing with your meteor freaks. The people you will be up against are dangerous, and will have no qualms about killing you. So strike first, strike fast and strike hard. Make sure they can't get up." She said, continuing to attack him as she spoke. Clark was managing to block or dodge her attacks, but it was a close thing. If it wasn't for his powers he would already have suffered broken bones at the very least, and death at the very worst. That's when her last words made sense to him.
"You're asking me to become a murderer." He asked as he lashed out with a kick towards her ead, which she ducked under with ease before responding with a punch of her own.
"No, and that's the first thing that you need to understand. Killing someone does not always make you a murderer. The world isn't so black and white as you would like to think."
"Oh no? Then what would you call it?"
"I call I doing what's necessary. Tell me, when I kill a terrorist does that make me a murderer?"
"No, you were just doing...what was necessary to stop him." He finished, feeling his legs swept out from under him before he fell on his back.
"Exactly. This isn't a game or a comic book where the hero can avoid killing Clark. This is a war. My job is to make you a soldier in that war, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. If you can't accept that, then there's no need for us to even start. I can't teach someone who is going to freeze up when things get ugly."
"Good thing I'm not going to freeze up then." He replied as he stood up, looking into Natasha's eyes. She held his gaze, seemingly searching for something as if she was trying to peer into his soul. Finally she nodded, and headed for the door.
"Are we done?" Clark asked in surprise, making Natasha laugh.
"No, we've only just begun. Now come on, I need to introduce you to a couple of people."
"Why?"
"You wanted to know who looked at your file yes?" She asked, and Clark nodded before following her out the door. They walked down the hallway, Clark resisting the urge to smirk as he saw the other agent's look away from them. It was obvious that Natasha's reputation was enough to ensure that no one bothered to give her a hard time, although Clark did notice some of the younger agent's checking her out when they thought she wasn't looking. He couldn't blame them. She really was beautiful. The thought made him grin slightly.
"What are you smiling about?" Natasha asked, and Clark laughed.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to have the best agents in the world, yet they make no attempt to hide the fact that they're checking you out." He replied, and she smiled. She saw some of the agents almost faint from shock, probably thinking that she wasn't capable of smiling. Natasha knew that she couldn't do it very often; she did have a reputation to maintain after all. However, Clark was so honest that she couldn't help it. It was refreshing to meet someone that could tell the truth after being surrounded by liars her entire life.
"I'm used to it." She replied, before leading him into a room. The doors instantly shut behind them, and Natasha looked on in silent approval as Clark scanned the room, obviously looking for possible threats.
"Do me a favor and step out of the shadows. Place the bow on the table." Clark said calmly.
"Dammit, how did you do that?" Clint Barton as he stepped out of the dark corner, placing his bow on the table.
"Trade secret." Clark replied simply.
"Clark, this is Clint Barton, goes by Hawkeye. Clint, this is Clark Kent our newest recruit, and my current assignment."
"Oh you got stuck with Tasha training you?" Clint asked, but Clark shook his head.
"No, I asked her to train me. She's the best Fury's got, and I intend to be the best." Clark replied, and Clint just shook his head.
"Good luck. Stop by if you survive, I'll buy you a drink. Oh, and don't worry about your file. Mum's the word." He said before walking out of the room. However, the door had barely shut before it opened again.
"You must be Clark Kent. I'm Phil Colson, it's a real pleasure to meet you. Good luck with training by the way."
"Everybody seems to be saying that." Clark replied, shaking hands with the man.
"Well, I hate to break this up, but I need to go. I've got a quick mission in Berlin tonight. Get some rest Clark, you're going to need it." She told him before walking out the door.
"Is she always like this?" Clark asked, and Colson shook his head.
"Only to the people she likes, so consider yourself lucky. The first time she met Barton she tried to kill him. Come on, I'll take you home." Colson said before leading him out of the room and down several hallways until they reached a garage.
"A red convertible?" Clark asked, but Colson just grinned and gestured for the young man to get in.
"Don't underestimate Lola." He replied, making Clark raise his eyebrow in response. Colson's comment made a lot more sense in the next moment as 'Lola' lifted off the ground and began to hover in the air. The door in front of them opened and Clark gasped as they flew out of the hanger and into the air.
"Colson, where were we?"
"Oh, that's the Helicarrier. It's our moving base."
"And is this..."
"New York? Why yes it is." Colson replied, grinning at the look of wonder that came over the young man's face as he gazed out on the New York City skyline.
"Tell me, does the new job come with my own Lola?" Clark asked, and Phil laughed but shook his head.
"Sorry, not just yet. Tell you what, survive training with Romanov and I'll see what I can do."
The rest of the ride was spent mostly in silence. Clark had a million questions, but decided not to ask. Instead he would just wait, and hopefully get them answered in time.
"You look like you've got more questions than someone on their first day of school. What's on your mind Clark?" Colson asked as they came within sight of the Kent farm.
"I've got a million questions, but I don't want to keep you here too long."
"Then what's the one that you want to know right now?" Colson asked. Clark was silent for a minute, not speaking until after Lola had touched down just outside the boundaries of the Kent farm.
"Can I trust Fury?" He finally asked.
"You can trust him to do the right thing." Colson finally said, and Clark nodded.
"Thanks for the ride." He said as he got out, and the older man smiled.
"If you've got anymore questions give me a call. I'm speed dial seven." He said, handing Clark a cellphone.
"Thanks, I appreciate it. Any advice for how to deal with all this?"
"Remember that you have a chance to be a part of something bigger than yourself."
Clark nodded, and turned toward the house, reflecting on how much his life had changed. Not twenty-four hours ago he had been in a bar in Metropolis, and now he was joining S.H.I.E.L.D. He shook his head as he headed inside; one thing was for sure, his life was never dull.