Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, nor do I have anything to do with Marvel.
These will be short chapters of around 1000 words. This makes is easier for me to update.
I will write this to the best of my ability and apologise if it is not always of the same standard. I write this for fun!
The title for this story was given to me by my friend Krista, who also encouraged me to write and share this. Thank you, Widow-Sister!
Maria Hill stood to the side of her desk with Clint and called Natasha over to her the minute she saw the red hair in amongst the agents. "Romanoff! Director Fury has requested that you and Barton handle a new mission. Come with me." They followed Agent Hill as she led them once again to the conference table where a man in a dark suit was waiting for them.
"Hey Coulson," Clint greeted the man, clapping him on the shoulder and sitting down at the table.
"Natasha Romanoff, I'd like you to meet Phil Coulson. He takes his orders from Director Fury and he's Barton's superior - yours too. He has a mission for you. Coulson, they're all yours," Hill left them with the man. Natasha observed his kind eyes and his genuine smile and decided that she liked Phil Coulson. It helped that Clint was comfortable with the man and she was inclined to trust his judgement.
"Glad to have you with us, Agent Romanoff. I hope you're settling in well." Coulson's eyes sparkled at her and she smiled, shaking his outstretched hand. He continued, "The Director has asked that the two of you take part in a new S.T.R.I.K.E. Team. Delta," Coulson said.
"S.T.R.I.K.E.?" Natasha questioned. She had only heard the term in passing, certainly not any capacity that involved her, and was never interested long enough to linger on what it actually was.
"Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies," Coulson responded.
Seeing she was still not entirely clear on who they were, Clint added, "It's just a special mission unit of S.H.I.E.L.D. They all answer to Fury." He knew that it was important for Natasha to know whom she was working for and if she trusted Fury, she would trust his teams.
Nat nodded, accepting Clint's response, "I see. What do they want us to do?"
Agent Coulson handed her a folder and Clint peered over her shoulder at the contents as it was explained, "A terrorist organisation has made a threat on the economic capital of the Ivory Coast."
"Abidjan," Natasha said and Coulson nodded. "There are 3 and a half million people in that city, why hasn't S.H.I.E.L.D. stepped in before now?"
"We've been keeping an eye on them." All three agents at the table looked around at the sound of Nick Fury's voice. Natasha looked from his eye patch to his good eye and couldn't help but smile at his choice of words. He smiled back at her, "Abidjan is a sister city to San Francisco. We have agents there who have been tracking the situation. They alerted us to this particular threat."
Barton frowned, "Me and Nat are working just fine as our own team. And S.T.R.I.K.E.'s been handling terrorist threats since its inception, why bring us into it?" Clint could count the number of times he had demanded an explanation for a mission on one hand, but having seen the files on the other members of the team, he took an immediate dislike to the leader. Brock Rumlow did not appear to be someone Clint would care to work with.
Nick Fury, looked at him, "Because, Agent Barton, you and Agent Romanoff have completed a dozen minor missions together and have not required an extraction plan once. You are an excellent team and I want you there to make sure the rest of them succeed. This is not a mission I care to fail on."
Clint looked at Natasha in her suit out of the corner of his eye and briefly wondered where she kept everything she seemed to use in a fight. " How many weapons do you have on you," he asked out of curiosity.
"Twenty-seven," she responded without hesitation as she shifted in her seat on the jet. She eyed the men seated around her with slight apprehension. Knowing she had to work with people that made every hair on the back of her neck stand up made her extremely uncomfortable. It had not helped her to know that Clint was also wary of the team. Even as he was settled in next to her, he scowled at the others.
He glanced down and noticed cuffs on her wrists that he hadn't seen before, "Coulson give you some new toys?"
She murmured back to him, "Fury did."
There was an instant shift in energy on jet. If Nick Fury had given her a weapon, it would have to be something really good. Some of the men eyed her warily and Clint asked, "What do they do?"
"You'll see." The jet descended towards the Ivory Coast and Natasha sprang up from her seat. Balancing in a jet heading for the ground was not a problem for her.
Clint fastened his armguard before standing next to Natasha, ready to disembark, "You got my back out there?"
"You know I do." She didn't meet his eyes, but he knew by the tone of her voice that she meant it.
"Nat," Clint yelled, "Go!"
"And let you guys have all the fun" her shout came back, "Not likely."
Natasha Romanoff landed next to her partner, springing up immediately to fire at the enemies. Side by side, they fought, much like any other mission.
Clint fired his arrows expertly, pausing just long enough to allow Natasha to use his knee as a booster to get onto the top of a jeep. She shot twice, taking out two enemies and scanning for the S.T.R.I.K.E. team. Spotting Rumlow with a team member in hand-to-hand combat with two of the terrorists, Natasha growled in frustration and pulled two small discs from her wrist cuffs.
"Nat," Clint, called up to her, "What are you doing?"
She took aim as she responded, "The right thing." She threw the discs. The men Rumlow and his companion were fighting shuddered as electricity shot through them before collapsing as Natasha jumped down off the roof of the jeep towards them. "You doin' okay, boys?"
Rumlow grinned at her, "Thanks."
She didn't respond, but turned around as she heard Clint running towards them. He nodded, indication all was clear, "Let's go." He waited until Rumlow was back on the jet before he smiled, at Natasha, "That's a hell of toy you've got. It suits you. I think Fury knew what he was doing when he gave you that today."
"He called it 'The Widow's Bite'," she responded, unable to help the smirk that crossed her face as she climbed aboard, Clint chuckling in her wake.