"If I didn't know you any better Jared I'd say you were trying to get in my pants," Natasha said smartly as she sat down on the couch. "You brought me champagne, strawberries…"
"French champagne," Jared cut in with a charming smile. He pulled the cork on the bottle he was opening. It opened with a satisfying pop, following by a small bit of foam. "Only the best for the Black Widow."
"And pizza," Natasha finished with a barely contained laughed. "Not sure the pizza fits in."
"Hey you said you wanted pizza," Jared laughed. He poured the champagne into the 2 waiting glasses on the coffee table. "I wasn't going to argue. I've been away long enough that I really need an American pizza. Here you go."
Jared handed one of the glasses to Natasha. She took it with a smile as she settled back into the couch, wriggling until she was comfortable. Taking a sip of the champagne Natasha closed her eyes in satisfaction as the bubbles slid down her throat. Jared sure knew how to pick a good drop of alcohol.
"So whats the special occasion?" Natasha curled up, hooking her feet underneath her.
"I'm commiserating my month off field duties," Jared pulled a face as he threw himself down on the couch. He balanced his own glass of champagne and the pizza box taking care not to spill the expensive alcohol. "This is going to suck on a level of fucking sucking."
"You were stupid enough to shoot your target and then burn down the building," Natasha had no sympathy as she snatched a slice of pizza from the box. She stuffed the still hot slice in her mouth looking at Jared, waiting for his explanation. Jared bending the rules was nothing new. Breaking them in such a dramatic way was something different for him though.
"The guy had it coming," a dark looked crossed Jared's face. "Fury can't be that pissed about it. I got all the intel we needed on him."
"Still," Natasha swallowed the mouthful of pizza before continuing. "Why'd you do it?"
Jared shrugged. He took his own slice of pizza, jamming half of it into his mouth. The extra big mouthful gave him enough chewing and swallowing time to think of a suitable answer to Natasha. He demolished the rest of the slice as well just for more time. Honestly, he wasn't terribly proud of himself for what he did. It was wrong to lose his control so badly, especially after this had been a target he'd been tracking for months. He thought about lying to her. But Natasha would always call him out on it. She knew him better than anyone. So lying was pointless.
"There's the scum of the earth, and then theres the scum of the scum of the earth," Jared began begrudgingly. "This guy really was the latter. Can't say I was too upset to torture all the information I needed out of him before shooting him."
"That's cold for you," Natasha picked a slice of pepperoni off her slice and nibbled on it. "Still doesn't tell me why you did it."
"Did you know any info on him?" Jared asked.
Natasha simply shook her head.
"To start with I thought I was just investigating another human trafficking ring, the typical ones with weapons and drugs on the side. I didn't even know why SHIELD was so interested in it to begin with," Jared paused to take a long drink of champagne. He needed the alcohol to help fuel his explanation along. "Then I found out exactly why I got the mission. His speciality was underage girls, Enhanced underage girls. Though he wasn't fussy on the underage part if they were Enhanced."
Natasha paused with her glass mid way to her lips. She could stomach a lot of things. But this was one very sore subject for her. Adding to the fact it'd been Enhanced just made it even worse. An involuntary shudder went through her body which was quickly chased away by a long drink from the glass.
"It could have been one of my cousins caught up in that," Jared's face twisted in disgust at the mere thought of it. "Fuck me, it could have been my own sister caught up in that. The things I found out…"
Jared trailed off with a shudder. He finished the glass of champagne in one long drink before pouring another. Natasha just sat there patiently. Eating her way around her pizza slice waiting until Jared was ready to talk again.
"He laughed when I interrogated him about it," Jared's eyes dropped down from Natasha's face. "Laughed in my fucking face, until I grabbed his arm and set it alight. He wasn't laughing too hard then. Spilt everything I needed in about 2 seconds flat after that."
"Then why kill him?" Natasha pried gently. It wasn't very often Jared let emotion get in the way of his job. Under his easy charm, he was cold and merciless when it came to his job. But he always did things the right one and never let himself get caught in the tangled web of emotions. It was a dangerous territory every spy stepped into. To get caught up in the job that it affects your judgement could mean a very slippery slope. Agents had gone crazy over less things than what Jared had just done.
"Why let him sit in a cell and be comfortable for the rest of his life?" Jared scoffed. "He didn't deserve to breath let alone anything else. I didn't get into that much trouble for killing him to be honest."
Natasha raised a questioning eyebrow. Of course Jared wouldn't get in trouble for that. There's always the chance a hostile needs to be taken out. Even if the orders were to bring them in alive. Self defence is a very handy little line that could get one out of a lot of trouble.
"Yeah Fury just went blah blah follow orders blah blah blah," Jared made a talking motion with his hand. "Next time you decide to burn a building down let us know so we don't have the local authorities on our ass. We can send in a clean up crew and not have to make excuses."
Natasha had just taken a sip of champagne. She had to stop herself choking on it at the end of Jared's explanation. Jared shot her a wry smile as she covered her mouth coughing.
"Yeah stupid isn't it?" Jared took another slice of pizza from the box. "I torture and kill my target, but get into more trouble for burning the building down."
"You're just lucky that Fury likes you," Natasha said dryly. "And you're good at your job. At least you'll have us stuck with you on base for at least the next month."
"Yeah why is that?" Jared grabbed the bottle of champagne and topped both of their glasses up. He had another 3 bottles in the fridge and planned on getting through them all tonight.
"Because Barton has something like 30 mission reports he decided not to do," Natasha rolled her eyes. "So Coulson has grounded us both until they're all done. Even then I'm not holding my breath about getting anything exciting for awhile. It'll be punishment for Barton being a slack ass."
"Sucks to be you having a handler," Jared grinned. "And having a partner which means if he's a shit you wear it too."
"It could be worse," Natasha mused looking at Jared over the lip of her glass with a small grin. Jared just raised his eyebrow in question. "I could be stuck with you."
"Touché," Jared raised his glass and clinked it against hers. On the coffee table Jared's voice vibrated as a message came through. He glanced at the name on the screen before picking it up. He chuckled quietly as he saw it was from Kari.
I'm standing here pretending to message someone important so I don't look like a loser. I'm not tipsy enough to be sociable yet.
"Kari?" Natasha asked. Jared nodded and handed the phone over the Natasha. She skimmed over the screen, breaking into her own quiet laughter after a few seconds.
"She's at a drinking night with her Squadron," Jared explained before Natasha could ask. "Give her a jet and she can fly the pants off just about anyone and she laughs while she does it. A night out being sociable and I think she was even considered letting me teleport her here instead of going. I told her to put her big girl pants on and go be sociable."
Solution to that is drink more. Get to it. I am tonight.
Jared typed as he was talking to Natasha.
"You two are such opposites," Natasha drained half of her glass in one go. "Its weird,"
"In some ways," Jared shrugged. "But in other ways we're the same. Like tonight we're both getting drunk."
"I'll drink to that," Natasha laughed as she took another long drink. "This shit is good. Where did you get it?"
"In a very nice little boutique winery in Southern France," Jared smiled as he took another savouring sip. It was a shame to get drunk off such nice champagne. But sometimes in life you just had to be a little be crazy. The splurge of money on it was going to be worth the end result.
2 bottles down, all of the pizza and half the strawberries gone, Jared got up to put a DVD on.
"Requests?" Besides Lilo and Stitch," Jared went to stand up. A wave of dizziness hit him hard, making him stagger into the coffee table. Jared quickly regained his balance, shaking his head.
"Lightweight," Natasha laughed. She was curled up with a cushion pulled to her chest. "It wasn't that strong."
"Apparently it was," Jared laughed as well straightening up. "I'm getting soft in my old age."
"Says the person a year younger than me," Natasha scoffed at him. "I don't care what movie, just pick something."
"Technically I'm only 5 months younger than you," Jared pointed out as he opened the DVD cabinet. "So be nice to me and I might not put you in a nursing home first."
Another wave of dizziness hit Jared suddenly. He gripped the edges on the cabinet to steady himself. Nausea made bile rise up from the back of his throat as he stood there feeling like he was about to fall down.
"Jared?" Natasha's voice sounded far away. "Are you ok?"
Jared couldn't focus on anything but how fucking dizzy he felt. It was getting so intense. Then the dread hit him just as hard, followed by the unmistakable feeling of terror. A terror so great he felt like he'd just been chilled to the bone. And then nothing. Absolutely nothing except his own teeth chattering.
"Jared!" Natasha's voice snapped him out of it.
Jared suddenly realised his eyes had been squeezed shut. He opened his arms to find flames coming from his hands, covering the DVD cabinet.
"Fuck," Jared quickly pulled away. The flames died quickly not leaving a mark behind. He stared at the cabinet trying to piece together what had just happened. His head felt so damn fuzzy. Like it'd just been stuffed full of cotton wool. He scrunched his face up, scrubbing a palm over it trying to concentrate.
"What's going on?" Natasha's steady voice made him look around back to her. She was still sitting in the same position as before. But now she was coiled, ready to jump into action at a moments notice.
"I have no idea," Jared grimaced as the nauseous feeling still rising in the back of his throat. "It just felt like I was about to pass out. Then…."
Jared trailed off. His eyes wide in sudden realisation on what just happened.
"Phone," Jared looked around frantically for the device. It was sitting on the table where he'd thrown it on earlier. With shaking hands he picked it up and quickly pressed Kari's number.
"Pick up," Jared squeezed his eyes shut again. This time in worry more than feeling sick. "Please pick up your phone."
"Hey," a hand lay on his arm making him open his eyes. Natasha was off the couch looking up at him, worry causing her to frown. "What's going on?"
Kari's voicemail kicked in and Jared hung up. He redialled straight away before explaining to Natasha.
"I think something happened to Kari," Jared's voice grew hoarse from worry. "Can you see if you can track her phone?"
"On it," Natasha slipped into her Black Widow facade. Calm and unflappable. Jared didn't need panic right now, he needed assistance. She pulled her own phone out and started tapping away on the screen with well practiced fingers. "Number?"
"It's an iPhone just log into her Find my iPhone, she's not security paranoid like us," Jared said as he listening to the phone just ring in her ear. He rattled off the login information for Natasha while she pulled it up. After a few seconds Natasha held her own phone up to his face.
Jared swore as Kari's voicemail kicked in again. He resisted the urge to thrown his own phone across the room in frustration. He looked at the blue dot growing on the screen. His worry was only tempered slightly when he saw it moving. He went to ring Kari's phone again when his own phone lit up. A second later the name Coulson flashed on his screen as it began to ring.
"Lyngley," Jared answered out of habit. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest as he waited for the other Agent to speak on the other end of the phone.
"We have a situation," Coulson's voice was calm. "You need to come in."
Jared watched from the other side of the window feeling ill at ease. His sister was sleeping peacefully now, lightly sedated but safe from harm. To his side, one of SHIELD's doctors was explaining everything to him. Coulson was standing a few paces way, arms crossed as he listening as well.
"A nasty dose of Rohypnol, her blood pressure is low, she's dehydrated but otherwise physically fine," the Doctor sighed quietly. "She threw up most of the flight back here, so hopefully that got most of it out of her system. I've got her hooked up to fluids as a precaution though."
Jared couldn't think of anything to say. His tongue was tied as he just stared at his sleeping twin. Those two fucking idiots from her Squadron had just paid the ultimate price for messing with Kari. At least it'd be the last time they did it. He was mostly horrified that the two men thought it'd be a good idea to drug her. But the smallest bit of him was very proud that her powers came out at the appropriate time. She was a hell of a lot more powerful with her Cyrokinesis than Jared could ever hope to be with his fire manipulation. Whether it'd been nothing more than a defence mechanism he was still very relieved that she still had it in her.
"How soon is she going to be awake?" Coulson asked.
"It'll be awhile," the Doctor gave an apologetic shrug. "At least 24 hours. I'd like to keep her under observation for that long anyway. It was a high dose she was given. One of the side effects can be respiratory problems. Its rare, but I'd like to be sure before we release her. Is there anything else?"
"No, thank you, "Coulson gave the Doctor a brief smile. The Doctor took it as his cue to leave the room. Just before the door clicked shut, Natasha slipped in silently.
"Fury would like a word Sir," Natasha said quietly to Coulson. Her eyes flicked over to Jared who hadn't moved or said a word since Kari had been wheeled into medical. Coulson nodded in acknowledgement, leaving the pair silently.
Natasha walked over to Jared and stood next to him in silent support. It took a few minutes but Jared broke the silence eventually.
"I should have dealt with this months ago," Jared's voice was scratchy and heavy with emotion. "I should have made those two fucking idiots disappear. None of this would have happened if I'd done the right thing and helped her."
"She didn't want your help," Natasha said gently. Jared didn't need her bluntness right now. He needed someone to talk to. If Natasha tried to do anything but comfort him at the moment he'd clam up and not talk at all. "Did you get the full story?"
"One of them pretended to knock a beer from her hand," Jared's hand clenched into a tight fist. He could feel the flames licking up from his palm as he struggled to contain his emotions. "He must have slipped something into it when he handed it back. She started to feel sick so decided to leave. One of them grabbed her before she left, the other was right behind her. But she didn't know the other guy was behind her. She lost control of her powers, froze the room over and killed both of them."
"Good riddance to bad rubbish," Natasha said evenly. "Are you ok?"
"I'm…" Jared trailed off. For the first time that night he didn't know what he felt. Anger was the first emotion that came to mind. But after that it was dread and fear. This wasn't going to turn out well for Kari. She'd always been so careful with her powers. SHIELD was going to be very unhappy about such a disaster happening in public. Especially on military property, since it was at the Officer's bar. There was going to be a lot of mess to clear up.
Natasha didn't push. She stood there with Jared, watching his twin. It took another few minutes before Jared spoke again.
"I felt it," Jared's voice grew hoarse again. "The dizziness was her trying to gain control. The terror of that guy grabbing her, she would have known exactly what they were trying to do."
"They're dead now," Natasha placed a soothing hand on Jared's back. She rubbed it in what she hoped to be comforting circles. "And she's safe."
"I should have dealt with this when I knew it was bothering her," Jared said again shaking his head. "Her whole life is ruined and I could have done something to prevent this."
"If you'd dealt with it you'd be in the world of trouble, possibly trouble even SHIELD wouldn't bail you out of," Natasha said tactfully. "You're no good to her in jail."
Kari stirred briefly in her sleep. Jared tensed, ready to teleport right beside her if she woke up. But she settled right back on the bed and stayed asleep.
"You look so much alike," Natasha mused. She'd been watching as well, her attention drawn by the small movements. "Are you identical?"
"No, may as well be though," Jared tried to offer a smile but it came out more like a grimace. "We're both just tall, blonde with blue eyes. Mom always said she's the better behaved one out of both of us."
"That I don't doubt for a second," Natasha's smile as genuine. "Don't beat yourself up over this. There's nothing you could have done without causing a lot of trouble for yourself. And for her as well."
"It still doesn't make me feel any less guilty," Jared felt his throat tighten momentarily. "She's a lot like you Tasha. You know the reason why she's flying F-22s?"
Natasha just shook her head.
"Because the recruiter laughed at her and told her she couldn't do it," Jared filled in. "So she worked 10 times harder than anyone else. She pushed and forced herself to be the best, simply because if she wasn't she wouldn't prove that recruiter wrong. She's been kicked down so many times but keeps dragging herself back up. I don't know how she's such a good person after all the shit she always seems to go through. She doesn't deserve this."
Jared was interrupted by any further talking by his phone. It was a message from Coulson asking him to come into Fury's office right now. Jared forced back a sigh of irritation. A flash of nerves came along with that irritation. Fury being called in on a Saturday night at nearly 1am was never going to be a pretty sight.
"I'll be back soon," Jared cast one final look at his peacefully sleeping twin. "Just, let me know if she needs me, ok?"
"I won't move until you get back," Natasha assured him. To emphasise her point, Natasha pulled a chair up and sat down in it. Jared shot her a thankful look before teleporting directly to Fury's office. It was just the two of them. Coulson was nowhere to be seen. Fury was standing at the window looking out over the twinkling lights of DC.
He'd been here so many times over the last few years, it didn't even get a flinch from Fury these days. Jared sat in the waiting chair, arms crossed ready to hear what the Director of SHIELD had to say about this colossal fuck up. He was prepared to do whatever was necessary to make things easier for Kari.
"Tell me Agent Lyngley," Fury turned away from the window to face Jared. "Has your sister's feelings on SHIELD changed much over the last few years?"
"No," Jared couldn't bring himself to keep this conversation civil. With that one question, he knew exactly where Fury was leading this line of questioning. It was one he'd already hashed out with him several times, especially over the last 12 months. "This wasn't her fault."
"No it wasn't," Fury was calm. His one good brown eye staring down the younger Agent in front of him. "However I now have a big clean up on my hands. I have Agents already on site debriefing her Squadron. The clean up crew have no idea where to start defrosting 2 inches of ice covering the entire room. And I have no idea what to do with the First Lieutenant sleeping off a date rape drug in my medical wing. Do you care to add any helpful suggests?"
Fury's voice never got louder. His tone just got harsher as it went on. Jared really wished sometimes he'd just yell. It'd make things easier to cop when he yelled. That harsh disapproving tone made it feel like you were being scolded and disciplined by a very unhappy parent.
"Offering a job isn't going to change her mind on SHIELD," Jared tried to keep his cool under the pressure of that stare. "She'll refuse. And even if she doesn't I don't think sticking her in a Quinjet will tame the adrenaline junkie in her."
"And if we make it so she can't refuse?"
Jared's stomach dropped at the not too veiled threat. He had a horrible nagging feeling in the back of this mind that this would happen. He knew SHIELD had been chasing his sister, especially after she'd starting making a name for herself in the Air Force. Combined with her love of shooting, their shared talent of learning new languages and her 2 tours overseas he could see exactly where Fury was going with this. STRIKE was looking like a very convenient place for her to end up in.
"I won't be part of it," Jared said hotly. "No, fuck it Nick. She's had enough problems lately let alone twisting her arm in joining SHIELD."
"I'm not asking you to be part of it," Fury didn't bother to correct Jared on using his first name. "I'm just telling you that she's going to be given a choice. The one she takes will probably end you up with a roommate for the foreseeable future."
That wasn't a surprise. Jared knew the easiest thing right now would be for Kari to stay with him. What he didn't like was the other offer Fury was going to put on the table.
"And if she refuses?" Jared asked.
"My powers of persuasion will say she won't," Fury pulled his chair out from the desk and sat down in it. "Does she know the protocol for someone on the Index after an incident like this happens?"
"Vaguely, she'll assume she's being sent to the Fridge," Jared said begrudgingly giving out the information. While he knew Kari really had no idea what the Fridge was, things got thrown around the dinner table on holidays. Or the Sandbox. Even though Jared himself had no real idea what on at the Sandbox. He didn't want to know either.
"So she'll be threatened with jail for something that wasn't her fault, but is a complete idle threat," Jared pinched the bridge of his nose. He hated where this conversation was going. Protocol would dictate an assessment to make sure she was stable with her powers. SHIELD would then set her up with a new life. But the offer to join SHIELD was always there. Fury just wanted to push the issue to make sure he got what he wanted.
"Just for a year," Fury softened the blow slightly. "I just want her for a year. After that she's free to go and live her life."
"This isn't fair on her," Jared's fingers went from pinching his nose to rubbing his temples. He could feel a headache coming on from the stress of everything tonight. Or the after effects of the champagne he'd drunk. "You can't omit details on what would actually happen to her if she doesn't accept your offer. Its blackmail."
"Coercion is a better word for it," Fury didn't bother to apologise or explain himself. Jared knew well enough that once he had his mind set on something it'd take a mountain to move it. "I'm sending Agents to pack her apartment up tomorrow."
Jared knew he didn't have a choice in the matter. No matter what from now on Kari was going to be joining SHIELD whether she wanted to or not.
"You're so telling my Mom," Jared said angrily. "I am not bearing the brunt of that phone call."
The grimace of having to deal with that piece of information crossed Fury's face. Jared had to stop the smug smiling from slipping onto his face. Lets see how the Director of SHIELD dealt with his head of Human Resources throwing a fit over him doing that to her baby girl. Especially the head of Human Recourses who could manipulate emotions. If his Mom was going to be angry, then Fury was going to be in a world of pain very shortly.
"I suggest you clean out your spare room," Fury said leaving no room for any further discussion. "Now get out of my office."
Jared was only more than happy to oblige.
Authors Note.
Ok, I said I wasn't going to update much before Xmas. But these one shots are very easy to tap out in a few hours. I can usually get them done quite easily.
This one is for kira shadow wolf. Hope you enjoy it!
Thanks for reading and reviewing.